Couple lived 'fairytale' lifestyle after stealing £60,000 from faulty cash machine

'Fairytale': Joanne Jones and her husband Darren pleaded guilty to stealing more than £60,000 from a faulty cash machine

It was the cash machine that spouted free money.

To investment banker Joanne Jones and her builder husband Darren, battling with debts, it was the answer to their prayers.

Over 88 days they made more than 300 visits to the faulty machine to take more than £60,000.

The cash was squirrelled away in other bank accounts and £27,000 stuffed into envelopes marked ' holiday money', 'car money', 'clothes money' and 'kitchen money'.

The couple, who have no children, also appeared to be planning a family. An envelope was marked 'baby money'.

But the fairy tale came to end when the Joneses were caught on secret cameras installed after staff realised cash was going missing.

Yesterday, they were each given nine-month suspended sentences and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work in the community after admitting the theft of £61,400.

Basildon Crown Court heard how the couple discovered the HSBC cash machine at a Waitrose supermarket in Billericay, Essex, didn't register withdrawals if they were overdrawn.

On March 8 last year, Mrs Jones took out £300 in three transactions. She then recruited her husband to help her withdraw more money using her account and a joint account which had originally been in credit.

The couple from Wickford, Essex, took out an average of £200 on each visit to the machine. On one occasion they took £2,400 in ten minutes.

The court was told the fault arose because the machine was 'very old'. It also heard that very few other customers had benefited because the 'majority of people in Billericay were not overdrawn'.

'Splashed out': The couple used £9,000 of the money they had stolen to buy a Chrysler Crossfire, similar to this one

After the hearing HSBC refused to say if anyone else would be prosecuted over the faulty machine and said security concerns prevented it from detailing the fault further.

The withdrawals did not show up in the Jones's bank accounts or on the 'tally roll' inside the cash dispenser and HSBC initially suspected Group 4 security staff who filled the machine of stealing the money.

CCTV cameras were installed and the couple were arrested on May 27 last year. Prosecutor Alan Jackson said they had used £9,000 in cash as part payment for a £13,000 Chrysler Crossfire sports car, and stayed at the £600-a-night Hotel Du Vin in Brighton.

He added: 'A search of their home recovered numerous receipts for luxury clothes and cosmetics by the likes of Hugo Boss, Coco Chanel and Dior, to name a few. They were able to live a pretty good lifestyle.

'Also found in the kitchen was £27,340 in cash. That cash had been put in various envelopes.'

He said one envelope was marked 'debt money' but there was nothing in it.

Property: The Jones's home in Wickford, Essex

Despite earning around £65,000 between them and owning three properties, the court heard the couple were facing debts totalling £34,000, including £27,000 on nine credit cards, an £877 final demand for VAT and a £2,155 bank loan.

Judge Christopher Mitchell told them: 'You were both clearly motivated a great deal by greed. It's like something out of a fairy tale - put a bit of plastic in a wall and free money comes tumbling out and there is no record on the bank account.'

A compensation hearing in June will decide how the money will be paid back.

Matthew Bagnall, defending Mrs Jones, said that since admitting the crime she had lost her £40,000-a-year job at Northern Trust Bank in London.

Jamas Hodivala, representing Mr Jones, said the scam was an 'unsophisticated enterprise' which showed the ' vulnerability of human nature'.

Mr Jones hugged his sobbing wife as they left court and said: 'We regret it deeply.'