Three men who blew up cash machines in a string of raids across the north-east have been jailed for a total of 36 years.
Robin Vaughan, Joseph McHale and Kevin Schruyers struck in Stonehaven, Inverurie, Aberdeen, New Deer and Ellon, stealing around £130,000 in just two months.
The Liverpool-based crooks used explosives to blow up the machines.
They also raided golfing legend Paul Lawrie’s shop at Banchory-Devenick and stole clothing, golf equipment and cash.
At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday, judge Lady Scott said the gang were “career criminals” who had endangered the public.
She said: “This course of criminal conduct was clearly well organised, with the raids designed to be repeatedly and rapidly made and your means of attack by gaining entry to the ATM through causing an explosion was obviously dangerous.
“The dangerousness of this enterprise is obvious.
“I am not surprised to find from the information before me that you are all career criminals with lengthy criminal records which suggest you are well known to each other and you have travelled to different parts of the UK to commit serious crimes.”
During the trial, the jury heard the trio were snared thanks to police intelligence.
The focus of the investigation led to Liverpool after a number of Scottish bank notes started to circulate in the Merseyside area.
Many of them had edges cut off to try to remove the signs of red security dye they were stained with when the ATMs were blown up.
It also emerged that the crooks had duped Francis Clark – the son of entertainer Fiona Kennedy – into giving them a safe haven at his chalet in Cruden Bay.
Giving evidence, Mr Clark told the court he only realised what they were doing when he came home from work one day and found Vaughan and others dipping bank notes into a bowl filled with nail varnish remover.
McHale, 37, and Schruyers, 42, who denied the allegations against them, were convicted of blowing up a machine at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Turriff 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 in 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
The brazen thieves also broke into the Paul Lawrie Centre making off with thousands of pounds worth of stock in just minutes. Staff at the time described the raid as “sickening” and said they were sure the culprits had “cased” the shop before striking.
The duo were also found guilty of attempting to break into a cash machine in Mintlaw by using a crowbar.
McHale was sentenced to 12 years and six months behind bars, while Schruyers was jailed for 13 years.
Meanwhile, 43-year-old Vaughan – who pled guilty during the trial – admitted being a part of the Turriff, North Deeside Road and Mintlaw offences. He was sentenced to 11 years.
