Two men have been acquitted of using a front-end loader to tear through the side of a bank to steal an ATM in January.

Judge Colin Flynn made the ruling Friday morning at provincial court in St. John's.

Cory Quilty and Jamie Kennedy, both in their 40s, were arrested in January after a piece of heavy machinery tore through BMO on Newfoundland Drive.

In his written decision, Flynn said he could not convict Quilty because the evidence was not sufficient.

"Can I conclude that the only reasonable conclusion is that Mr. Quilty was involved in the theft of the front-end loader and the break and entry? More likely than not he was," Flynn wrote.

A St. John's court watched video from BMO on Newfoundland Drive at the trial for two men accused of using a front-end loader to steal an ATM. They were ultimately acquitted. 1:45

"But of course that is not sufficient.… I cannot be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Quilty was party to the two offences," he wrote.

Flynn also concluded he could not convict Kennedy.

"While the evidence with respect to Mr. Kennedy is very suspicious, it is not sufficient for me to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Kennedy was party to the theft of the front-end loader and the break and entry into the Bank of Montreal," he wrote.

Lawyer Mark Gruchy, who represented Kennedy, agreed that finding that the men probably did it isn't enough to convict them.

Lawyer Mark Grouchy at provincial court in St. John's (Mark Quinn/ CBC)

"Proof beyond a reasonable doubt requires proof approaching certainty. So you'll frequently see it stated in court that probability is insufficient to found a criminal conviction. The proof has to be so solid that it approaches certainty," Gruchy said.

The robbery triggered an alarm at 4:35 a.m. on Jan. 19, bringing the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to the scene.

A front-end loader was used to break into a side wall of a BMO branch on Newfoundland Drive, to access an ATM, in January. (John Gushue/CBC)

The machine was ditched outside the BMO branch on Newfoundland Drive, in the east end of St. John's.

Following the break-in, officers stopped a vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway and arrested two men in connection with the crime.

Kennedy, 41, and Quilty, 42, were both facing charges of break and entry with intent and theft of a motor vehicle.

String of break-ins

The crime marked the fourth daring, unusual break-in involving different kinds of heavy equipment.

A front-end loader was used to cut open a TD Bank branch on Elizabeth Avenue in St. John's. A backhoe was used to smash through four windows at Sobeys on Kelsey Drive, where an ATM was stolen, and an excavator was used to rob a Scotiabank branch in the Long Pond area of Conception Bay South.

Kennedy and Quilty were not facing charges in relation to those crimes.

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