It was 4.15am and two men arrived in a black BMW outside the Co-op in Ellenbrook, Worsley. They were joined by another in a Transit van stolen hours earlier from Burtonwood, Cheshire.
They then attempted to steal money from a cash machine inside the Co-op on Morston Close. The attempt failed - but that incident on March 16th 2022 was their second strike. Two days earlier, they had escaped with £21,420 in an identical attack at a Co-op in LIncolnshire.
It was the start of a five-month crime spree from March to July 2022 which saw them strike 19 times across England and Wales. Using a lockup garage in Greater Manchester as a 'stable' where they would keep their stolen cars, the raids saw the crew steal £580,000 in total.
