A GANG of ruthless armed robbers was jailed for a total of 100 years this afternoon for terrifying raids on two North-East jewellery stores.

The longest sentence was given to professional criminal David Patmore, who was locked up for 19-and-a-half years at Teesside Crown Court.

The Northern Echo:

David Patmore

The 32-year-old has already served prison sentences of nine years for a 2002 travel agents hold-up and 18 years for robbery and escaping court.

Other lengthy sentences imposed on the trans-Pennines gang were 12 years for Samuel Hughes, 29, and ten years for Anthony Northmore, 25.

Hughes was the leader of the Manchester end of the plot and Northmore, of Hampden Way, Thornaby, near Stockton, the chief of the Teesside end.

The gang was responsible for a £500,000-plus raid at Market Cross Jewellers in Yarm in November 2014 and the Midlesbrough branch last January.

Judge Tony Briggs told them: "The effect on the staff has been profound. There were threats of violence from people armed with axes.

"The robbers had come from a long distance away and went to considerable lengths to not be traced by using stolen cars with cloned number plates.

"The raids were carried out in a ruthless an determined manner without any thought of the effect it would have on staff, customers and onlookers.

"It was a scene of chaos and no doubt terrifying . . . the owners were shattered by this particular experience - attacks not only on their business but attacks which affected their staff."

Seven other men - six from Manchester and Northmore's brother Scott, 20, of the same address - were locked up for between 12 years and eight months and four years.

A final defendant, who admitted assisting an offender by agreeing to pick up one of the gang after the Yarm robbery, not knowing what had happened, got a suspended jail term.

The officer in charge of the case, Detective Constable Kim Burrell, said: "This was a complex investigation carried out by Cleveland Police’s organised crime unit, which is a team of detectives committed to protecting the communities of Cleveland from organised crime.

"This unit specialises in dismantling organised crime groups (OCGs) -specifically those operating cross border criminality.

"This investigation required tenacity, and hours of trawling through CCTV footage, and visiting witnesses to establish lines of enquiry.

"The group responsible for these violent attacks was well resourced, and the incidents meticulously planned. It was down to the tenacity of the dedicated team of detectives and analyst involved that smashed this cross border OCG.

"The team worked tirelessly throughout this protracted investigation, carrying out enquiries, alongside a dedicated analyst trawling through numerous pages of phone data to link the phones used during the planning to the defendants.

"Cleveland Police organised crime unit worked closely with colleagues from Greater Manchester and North Yorkshire Police, as well as other forces, to share information. Other partner agencies assisted with enquiries, including the prison service.

"Members of the public also greatly assisted the investigation by providing valuable information to the enquiry team.

"It was the sheer determination, the hours of old-fashioned police work, and the quality of the evidence put forward by the organised crime unit, that left ten defendants no choice but to plead guilty, due to the strength of the evidence against them. The other was found guilty following a two-week trial.

"As a result of searches, stolen property with an estimated value of more than £26,000 was recovered and prohibited weapons were taken off the streets.

"This has resulted in an OCG responsible for committing violent and other crime throughout the country being dismantled. Cleveland Police is committed to protecting communities, and bringing to justice those who commit crime in our area."