A JURY has retired to consider its verdicts in the case of a man accused of being part of a gang that “meticulously and professionally targeted ATM machines at post offices across West Yorkshire.”

Lee Walker, 32, is on trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of plotting thefts from post offices in Bradford, Shipley and Pudsey in December 2015, including one Christmas Day raid in which more than £120,000 was taken.

The jury has been told that Walker conspired to target the ATMs, also burgling homes to acquire stolen getaway vehicles.

Walker, of Swain House Crescent, Bradford, denies charges of conspiracy to burgle, steal, and cause explosions, telling the jury he was not present at any of the burglaries.

James Bourne-Arton, prosecuting, said the gang would remove the front of ATMs before pumping a mixture of oxygen and acetylene into the dispensers and lighting a fuse, aimed at causing an explosion that would allow access to the cash cassettes housed inside.

He said Walker’s guilt was proven by phone records between him and other alleged gang members and the presence of his DNA at the various crime scenes.

The trial continues.