Richhill cash machine theft took less than 60 seconds, court hears

The theft of a cash machine worth £10,000 from a County Armagh filling station took less than 60 seconds, a court has been told.

Sean Paul Donnelly, 22, of Navan Street in Armagh city, appeared at Newry Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

He faced charges including theft, arson and criminal damage.

The theft took place at a premises on the Portadown Road in Richhill on Tuesday morning and a stolen digger used in the raid was set on fire.

The court was told that the filling station had been targeted in a similar theft previously.

A police officer told the court that CCTV footage showed the theft took less than a minute.

Objecting to bail for Mr Donnelly, a police officer told the court: “These are the actions of a professional gang who know what they’re at.”

The court heard a tracker on the cash machine led armed police to a premises where they discovered two men attempting to open the cash machine with an angle grinder.

The two men then made off on foot.

The officer told the court that police were led to Mr Donnelly after finding a receipt for gas linked to his address in a vehicle that they believed was connected to the theft.

The address where police found the two men with an angle grinder is the former home of Mr Donnelly’s grandparents, which is now derelict and uninhabited.

The officer said that police believe the defendant is “a committed member of an organised crime gang”.

He added that during a search of Mr Donnelly’s home a BB gun was found hidden behind a microwave, as well as a hatchet under a pillow.

He said police believed another man was involved but he had yet to be arrested.

Mr Donnelly is accused of several offences – they are:

All of the offences are alleged to have taken place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A solicitor acting for Mr Donnelly said the evidence against his client was “circumstantial”.

Bail was refused and Mr Donnelly was remanded in custody.

The case will be heard again next month.