United Kingdom - A duo of thieves who took photos of themselves after stealing thousands of pounds from gambling machines have been sentenced last April 4, 2016 at the Bradford Crown Court.
Daniel Hutchinson, age 24, a resident of Damon Avenue Bradford, and Benjamin Robinson, age 29, from Harrogate Road, Bradford, thought it would be awesome to celebrate the dirty deeds they have done, and they took grinning and posing selfies after the robberies. The selfies were posted on various social media sites, including Facebook.
Around midnight of June 27, 2014, when the two were stopped in their white Vauxhall Insignia car (on the A65 at Gargrave) near Skipton for speeding, the North Yorkshire Police found balaclavas, a screwdriver, and over £3,000 in cash. The North Yorkshire Police officers, at that time, were carrying out an operation, Operation Hawk, targeting cross-border criminals utilizing the force's road network.
At a previous court hearing held on November 23, 2015, the two admitted to conspiracy to steal.
During the fruit machine raids which they committed across the UK, the two disguised themselves by wearing balaclavas.
Just after their previous hearing, Robinson said outside the court, "I don't care that I'm guilty. I'm not bothered mate. I love it mate."
Matt Walker, Detective Chief Inspector of the North Yorkshire Police, said, "We knew we hit the jackpot when we investigated these lemons. These offenders carried out a string of crimes with no thought for the businesses they were targeting - but ultimately their greed, arrogance and affinity for selfies proved to be their downfall."
He added, "We are pleased that our operation to target cross-border criminals continues to disrupt the activities of offenders such as Hutchinson and Robinson. The investigation showed that they were targeting fruit machines around the country. It sends out a clear message that anyone travelling into North Yorkshire to commit crime will be caught and brought to justice."
Benjamin Robinson was put behind bars for 32 months.
His accomplice, Daniel Hutchinson, was sentenced to 6 months in jail, suspended for 2 years. The judge also ordered him to perform 120 hours of volunteer work.
source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/04/fruit-machine-criminals-caught-after-taking-selfies-to-celebrate/