A group of experienced criminals was sentenced to nearly 75 years in jail for blowing up ATMs and stealing eleven prizes from the National Horseracing Museum.
Six members of the smash-and-grab gang led by James ‘Jimmy’ Sheen blew up 18 ATMs over the course of a year and made off with £100,000 by hauling them out with high-powered 4x4s.
Three members of the group also broke into the National Horseracing Museum at Newmarket in May 2020, stealing ten prizes, including the £75,000 Ascot Gold Vase.
The shooting comes about a week after Frank James, the man charged with shooting up a New York City subway train last month in an attack that wounded 10 people, pleaded not guilty to terrorism and other charges.
Frank James entered the plea in federal court in Brooklyn on May 13.
James, 62, is facing charges of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The defendant was arrested April 13, about 30 hours after authorities say he drove from Philadelphia and unleashed smoke bombs and dozens of bullets in a train full of morning commuters as it approached a Brooklyn station.
The shooting victims ranged in age from 16 to 60; all survived.
Authorities said James’ bank card, cellphone and a key to a van he had rented were found at the shooting scene. Police also said they found the 9mm Glock semiautomatic handgun used in the shooting and traced it to James.
Defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg had cautioned at at the time of James’ arrest not to rush to judgment and noted that James alerted police to his whereabouts. He was arrested in Manhattan’s East Village after he called a tip line saying he was at a fast food restaurant in that section of the city.
A motive for the attack is unclear. In numerous rants he posted on YouTube, James, who is Black, made bigoted remarks about people of various backgrounds and railed against New York Mayor Eric Adams and complained about mental health care he received in the city years ago.
James, who’s being held without bail, is due back in court July 25.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has promised to tackle the city’s soaring crime rates since he took office this year.
Overall crime is up 40 percent, slightly down in the last few months. All violent crime is up, except murder and shooting victims, which is down almost 12 and 3.5 percent, respectively.
Transit is up the highest at 62 percent as New Yorkers have experienced several passengers being pushed onto tracks, as well as a mass shooting on Brooklyn subway train.
Assault is also up almost 20 percent and burglary and robbery have spiked 33 and 42 percent, respectively.