A member of a gang which blew up bank cash dispensers to steal thousands of pounds refused to meet a social worker preparing a background report because he didn’t want to let down his teammates in a prison volleyball tournament.
ATM thief Robin Vaughan claimed he’d been told his lawyer, not the social worker, was waiting to see him, the High Court at Livingston heard yesterday.
Donald MacLeod QC, defending, said his client’s failure to cooperate was “a complete misunderstanding” and apologised to judge Lady Scott on his behalf.
He said Vaughan had seen his solicitor in prison the day before. He added: “At the time he was involved in a volleyball match and he took the view that he’d be letting the side down if he came out.
“He had no idea it was the social worker in attendance and not his solicitor.”
Vaughan, 43, and his co-accused Joseph McHale, 38, and Kevin Schruyers, 42, all from Liverpool, were due to be sentenced yesterday for using explosives to raid automated tellers in Aberdeenshire in an audacious series of heists.
They used oxygen and acetylene gas to blow up the safes behind ATMs in Stonehaven, Inverurie, Aberdeen, New Deer near Turriff and Ellon between August and November 2013.
They caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and duped Francis Clark, grandson of singer Calum Kennedy , into providing them with a hideaway.
Lady Scott told them they would now be sentenced together at Glasgow High Court on 1 July at 9.30am.
McHale and Schruyers were convicted of blowing up an ATM at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Turiff on September 18, 2013, and stealing £21,020.
They were also found guilty of blowing up the cash machine at Scotmid Co-operative in North Deeside Road, Aberdeen, on September 19, and stealing £112,000.
The pair were also convicted of blowing up four ATMs in Ellon, Stonehaven, Inverurie and Aberdeen and attempting to steal from them and stealing a quantity of clothing, golf equipment and money from the golf professional shop at the Paul Lawrie Centre in Aberdeenshire.
The duo were also found guilty of attempting to break into a cash machine in Mintlaw by using a crowbar.
Vaughan, admitted blowing up an ATM in Turiff on September 18, 2013, and stealing £21,020 and another in North Deeside Road, Aberdeen , on September 19, and stealing £112,000.
He also admitted tried to force open an ATM in Mintlaw using a crowbar.
