PICTURED: Four men jailed after ram-raid and 130mph police chase

The gang, wearing balaclavas, used a stolen teleporter to smash open a wall at the McColls store in Louth Road, Holton le Clay, and remove the cash machine.

The ATM, which contained £22,000 in bank notes, was then loaded into a stolen transit van and driven away in convoy with a stolen car.

Hal Ewing, prosecuting, said that police were alerted by residents. The getaway vehicles were seen heading away from the burglary and a high speed pursuit followed.

House bricks, jerry cans, fire crackers and a circular saw were among missiles thrown at a pursuing patrol car and a laser light shone at the police driver as they reached 130 mph in the getaway VW Golf car

Mr Ewing said that the gang headed off along Caistor High Street as far as Walesby where the transit van containing the cash machine was abandoned. They then drove back towards Grimsby in the Golf.

On the A18 the Golf rammed the police car and then turned into Laceby.

Mr Ewing said: “The Golf crossed the grass central reservation and then drove in the wrong side of the dual carriageway at 80 mph.

“The pursuing officer took the view that this was a manoeuvre designed to be so deliberately dangerous that it would force the police to abandon the pursuit.”

At one point the Golf stopped and one of the men got out and used a wrench to smash the windscreen of the police car showering the officer with glass.

The Golf then continued into Collingwood Crescent off Laceby Road in Grimsby where it smashed into the gates of a house and came to a halt. All four men were then arrested.

The incident resulted in the store being closed for four weeks. Around £25,000 worth of damage was caused to the building and a further £10,000 worth of stock was destroyed. In addition, thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to the cash machine. The money in the ATM was all recovered.

Thomas Boswell, 32, of French Street, Bentley, Doncaster; Ashley Squires, 36, of Huthwaite Lane,Old Blackwell, Alfreton; Alan Pearson, 33, of Tolney Lane, Newark; and Jordan Herring, 38, of The Homestead, Bentley, Doncaster; each admitted burglary and aggravated vehicle taking as a result of the incident on 11 October this year.

Pearson also admitted charges of assaulting an emergency worker and criminal damage to a police car.

Pearson was jailed for four years and eight months. Squires was jailed for four years and four months. Boswell and Herring were each jailed for four years.

Pearson was banned from driving for 40 months; Squires for 38 months; and Boswell and Herring for three years.

A hearing to consider confiscation of their assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act was adjourned to the new year.

Judge Simon Hirst, passing sentence, told them: “This was a significantly planned and organised expedition. You acted as a team.

“You chose a rural location no doubt, you thought, to minimise the risk of being pursued.”

Barristers representing the four men told the court they became involved in the raid for financial reasons after income from their work dropped off.