TWO men have been jailed after targeting and stealing money from five cash points across Dorset, including in Dorchester and Gillingham.

Constantin Razyan Tanase, aged 32 and Adrian Tanase, aged 36, both of Waverley Road in London, admitted five counts of theft from cash machines.

Adrian Tanase also admitted a charge of possessing or controlling an article for use in fraud.

They appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Thursday, February 21.

In the early hours of on Sunday, December 30, the pair stole £310 from a cashpoint in Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth.

They targeted a TSB cashpoint in Old Christchurch Road on January 4, stealing £280 and stole £300 from a TSB cash machine in High West Street in Dorchester.

Another incident was reported at a TSB cash machine on Gillingham High Street.

The men were finally caught after police received a report from security staff at the Dolphin Centre in Poole of three men acting suspiciously around a TSB cash machine in Falkland Square around 10.15pm on January 10.

Police said town centre cameras tracked the men and showed two of them using some sort of lead or ribbon to remove a large number of bank notes from the machine.

The total taken was £230.

The two men were located by officers and arrested.

Adrian Tanase was found to have a bank card in his pocket that was not in his name.

CCTV from the previous four offences were obtained and Constantin and Adrian Tanase were identified as the men responsible.

The defendants also asked for three cash machine thefts in Suffolk and three in Norfolk that occurred on Sunday, January 6 and Monday, January 7 to be taken into consideration when they were sentenced.

Detective Constable Garry Weston, of Bournemouth CID, said: “These two men were responsible for a number of thefts from cash machines not just across Dorset but elsewhere in the country.

“Thanks to the actions of the security staff at the Dolphin Centre, the Poole town centre camera team and the swift response of officers we were able to arrest them and bring them to justice for their offending.”

They were each sentenced to 12 months in prison.