Man jailed after ram-raid on Henfield High Street bank

A man has been jailed for his part in a ram raid on a Henfield bank when an ATM containing more than £50,000 was stolen.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

James Sayers, 31, appeared at Hove Crown Court on March 9 charged with theft and receiving stolen goods.

Judge Jeremy Gold QC heard how Sayers, formerly from Guildford, and a group of others stole three vehicles, including a JCB Telehander digger, in the early hours of Sunday April 15 2018.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Police said the men used the digger, minus its bucket, to pull the ATM from the wall of Barclays Bank in Henfield High Street at 2am that morning.

James SayersJames Sayers
James Sayers

The ATM, which contained £55,000 in cash, was loaded into a stolen Nissan Navara pick-up truck and later dumped, along with the pick-up, and burned out in Oakendon Woods, Dunsfold, said police.

As the stolen Audi A6 estate car left the woods, just before 4am, the men were confronted by a member of the public whose vehicle they rammed.

Sayers admitted one count of theft, relating to the ATM and its contents; and a second count relating to the JCB Telehander.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He also admitted two counts of receiving stolen goods, relating to the theft of the Nissan Navara and the Audi A6, both between 5 and 16 April 2018.

Sayers also admitted a similar ram raid at a Co-op store in Didcot, Oxfordshire, when he appeared at Hove Crown Court.

Sayers was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment for both offences.

The sentence will run concurrently to a five year sentence Sayers is currently serving for a similar ram raid in Hampshire in 2019.