Dutch man sentenced to two years for attempted ATM blast

A 28-year-old Dutch man was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday for attempting to blow up an ATM in Aschbach-Markt, a town in the Amstetten district, ORF reported. The verdict by St Pölten Regional Court is not final because prosecutors appealed the sentence.

Prosecutors said the man fled on a scooter with an accomplice after the failed attempt in late November 2025. DNA evidence led to his arrest, and he was extradited to Austria at the end of June. The defendant admitted the charges.

During the night of November 28, 2025, the ATM at a bank branch was forced open with a crowbar, but the attempted explosion failed and the machine’s safe held. The building was heavily damaged, and firefighters helped clear broken glass.

The defendant left without any money and is believed to have been involved in a scooter accident while fleeing. Investigators later found the scooter and a bag containing the crowbar several kilometres from the scene. A passer-by found the clothing worn by both suspects beside the Danube, 14 kilometres from the bank.

The man’s lawyer argued that his client had not played a leading or significant role. The defendant said he had initially been asked to transport the scooter to Austria, but was threatened and forced to take part after one of two accomplices withdrew. He said he received 500 euros of the promised 2,000 euros.

Surveillance footage recorded two men at the scene. An investigator from the Lower Austria State Criminal Police Office told the court that ATM attacks in Austria had mainly been organised from the Netherlands in recent years, using a division of tasks.

The accomplice has not been identified. The defendant, a father of two, said he could not provide information about his associates because he feared for his safety. He said his family had been threatened and that someone had fired at a window of his home as a warning.

The court convicted him of commercially aggravated serious theft by burglary as part of a criminal organisation. His admission and the fact that the offence remained an attempt were considered mitigating factors. The sentence range was six months to five years.

His 12 previous convictions in the Netherlands were considered aggravating. The judge said the defendant’s criminal record made it difficult to believe that he had joined the operation spontaneously. The court also awarded the insurer more than 102,000 euros in damages as a private party.