Three Romanian men have escaped jail sentences for tampering with a bank cash machine in an attempt to steal.

A judge said he was taking a lenient course and imposing a community order because they had served four-and-a-half months in custody on remand.

Teodor-andrei Mustea, Alexandru Muraru and Julian Botezatu admitted possessing articles for use in fraud and criminal damage.

Botezatu asked for an offence of fraud, involving a Barclays ATM in Hythe, to be considered.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Botezatu, 26, was caught on CCTV tampering with an ATM at Barclays in Folkestone on October 17 last year.

John Keal, prosecuting, said Mustea, 22, stood nearby, while 24-year-old Muraru kept watch.

When police arrived on the scene the card slot in the machine fell off and wires and screws were exposed. A magnetic card scanner was found.

The three men, all from Poplar, east London, were discovered hiding in bushes nearby. Botezatu had discarded a chisel and Mustea a card slot.

Mr Keal said they had not been successful in fitting a device to the ATM and skimming or cloning credit or debit cards.

Andrew Espley, for Botezatu, said his client came to this country two years ago as an electrical engineer to make money to send home to his family.

Work dried up and he was led into temptation out of desperation.

John O’Higgins, for Muraru, said his client came to the UK three years ago and worked long hours as a labourer. Time on remand had been spent in “unpleasant” Wormwood Scrubs.

Mustea came here a year ago, working as a security guard, following Romania’s entry into the European Union, said his lawyer Catherine Donnelly.

Substantial amounts of money intended for rent had been stolen by a man who shared their flat and they were about to be made homeless.

“The offences were a foolhardy solution to make money,” added Miss Donnelly.

Ordering Botezatu to do 150 hours unpaid work and Muraru and Mustea 100 hours, Judge David Griffith-Jones QC said such offences were becoming increasingly prevalent.

“They undermine confidence in the integrity of the banking system,” he said.