Disbelief follows attack on ATM

By Shaun Inguanzo
COCKATOO Community Bank staff and customers were overcome by disbelief after the bank’s new Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was destroyed by vandals last week.
The ATM screens were smashed and the card slot was destroyed last Friday.
The ATM will need to be replaced.
Upwey and District Community Bank chairman Peter Marke, whose own bank played a vital role in establishing the Cockatoo branch, was devastated by the attack.
“I am extremely disappointed,” he said.
“It is so important that we get this branch up to a sound financial footing and unnecessary and unperceivable costs like this make our job so much harder.
“I can only hope the offenders are apprehended and an example made of them.”
Branch manager Adam Whitworth said he spent Friday morning explaining to customers that the ATM was no longer useable.
“I was in disbelief,” he said.
“It is disappointing to see something like that; we are community owned and operated.”
Mr Marke said police were reviewing closed circuit security footage to identify the offenders.