Men found ready to steal bank cards from cash machines on Christmas Eve have been spared jail.

Jakakumar Gandhiraj, 29, of Crown Street, Aberdeen, and Vairabala Thiyagarajan, 23, of Green Street, Plaistow, London, were found guilty of possession of items for use in fraud.

The two men were found with a card skimming device, a Barclays bank card reader, pliers, a screwdriver and a pair of scissors, in Upper Ham Road on December 24 last year.

Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court heard that police seized the items and the court ordered them to pay an £80 victim surcharge and £310 in costs.

They were handed a suspended sentence of 16 weeks, which will last for 12 months, when they appeared in court on Friday, August 2.