Copycat ATM theft in Kells
04 December 2009
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister:-
"I am shocked that the banditry of digger theft of ATMs has come to my local village, Kells. The spate of such crime, including its copycat spin off, across the Province is appalling.
"This audacious crime would not have been attempted in the days when we had a fully operative police station just around the corner. But in its folly the Policing Board has decided to close and sell the station, leaving the village bereft of local policing. The opportunity, as this incident shows, is not lost on criminal gangs who now have the confidence to commit such a crime in the heart of the village, safe in the knowledge that any police are miles away.
"I trust no effort will be spared in bringing these perpetrators to justice and that the loss of confidence which such incidents engender will be addressed by the reversal of police withdrawal to major stations."
