Video: Thieves ram sewage tanker into bank window

TWO robbers have been jailed for crashing a stolen sewage tanker through a Blantyre call centre’s front door before using the ­vehicle to repeatedly ram a cash machine.

CCTV images after George Nicol and David Fowler

George Nicol, 37, and David Fowler, 27, drove the truck through the glass doors of the offices of banking firm HSBC in the Lanarkshire town in October 2012.

The High Court in Edinburgh was shown footage of a glass door being smashed and the frame being thrown several feet in the air. The vehicle could then be seen skidding along the floor in the call centre’s reception 
before Nicol aimed it at a cash machine.

He then reversed before propelling the tanker forward again. When repeated attempts failed, the pair could be seen taking turns to hitting the ATM with a sledgehammer before leaving empty handed. The pair were arrested moments later, and police found a sawn-off shot gun and ammunition in their possession.

Yesterday, Lord Glennie sentenced Nicol to five and a half years, and Fowler to five.

He said: “The only saving grace in this case is that the crime was carried out in such an incompetent fashion.”