Man jailed after DNA on his balaclava links him to St Ives ram raid
A man from Bedford has been jailed after DNA on his balaclava linked him to a ram raid in St Ives.
Maurice Rogers and four other men used a stolen digger to tear a cash machine from the wall of a Co-Op store in the town last September.
They loaded the ATM, which contained more than £89,000, onto a pick-up truck and then made their escape in the truck and another car.
Police tracked the gang down 22 miles away in Wentworth near Ely, at which point the driver of the truck got out and ran away.
Officers then recovered the cash machine, before spotting the second car.
Again, the men got out of the vehicle and ran off, but crucially, Rogers dropped his balaclava which forensic analysis later linked him to the crime.
Rogers pleaded guilty to burglary and was jailed for three years and eight months.
“Rogers caused a significant amount of damage in this calculated robbery," PC Neil Patrick from Cambridgeshire Police said.
“Fortunately the cash was recovered in this instance and won’t fall into the hands of criminals.”