Six charged over cash machine ram raids by 'organised gang' using 'jaws of life' cutters

West Midlands Police arrested the six as part of an investigation into an organised gang which used stolen Audis and a flat-bed truck to break into cash machines between March and September this year.

The gang used 'jaws of life' – a piece of cutting equipment used by firefighters to free people from trapped vehicles – as they targeted the cash machines.

Over a series of attacks, hundreds of thousands of pounds were stolen, with machines being targeted in Cumbria, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Leighton Buzzard and Towcester, near Milton Keynes.

As part of the investigation, officers raided addresses around the Midlands and in Carlisle on Tuesday, leading to five men and a woman being charged on Wednesday night.

The six were charged with a range of crimes, including conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal and conspiracy to handle goods and money laundering.

Simon Pagett, 43, of Bloxwich; Noel Reilly, 45, of Bromsgrove and Craig Howell, 43, of Bilston, were all charged with conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal, conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary with intent, conspiracy to handle stolen goods and money laundering.

Oliver Matthews, 38, of Featherstone, Staffordshire; Martyn Smith, 43, of Carlisle and Helen Pagett, 49, of Bloxwich, are all charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, conspiracy to handle stolen goods, and money laundering.

The six are due to appear before Wolverhampton Magistrates Court on Friday.