TWO men who robbed a betting shop are starting lengthy prison sentences for what a judge called a terrifying raid.

Stephen Baker was hooded and armed with a hammer while Benjamin Taylor had has face covered and was carrying a brick when they struck at the bookmakers in Middlesbrough.

Baker, 28, attacked a glass security screen and "catapulted" himself over the counter, prosecutor Emma Atkinson told Teesside Crown Court.

The lone female worker fled, but was chased into the street by 25-year-old Taylor, before she found safety in a nearby shop and the police were called.

Meanwhile, Baker is seen on closed circuit television camera footage smashing a computer monitor to the floor behind the counter and stealing the woman's iPhone.

The pair fled but were arrested near the scene of the raid at Ladbrokes in

Fosdyke Green, Netherfields, and Baker was still wearing a pair of red gloves and had the mobile.

In a statement, the worker said: "I was shaken and petrified, and felt sick when I saw the hammer. I was really frightened when he was striking the glass, and feared for my safety when I was chased."

The robbery in February came just a fortnight after Taylor was charged and given bail for ramming a police van and patrol car when officers tried to stop him in a Vauxhall Corsa.

During the incident in Westbourne Grove, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, he also collided with a milk van and a road sign as he tried to escape, the court heard, causing a total of £5,480 damage.

Taylor, of Roworth Road, Middlesbrough, was jailed for five years after he admitted dangerous driving, two charges of criminal damage and robbery. A five-year driving ban will begin when he is released from prison.

Baker, of Mitford Close, in nearby Ormesby, was ruled by the judge to be a "dangerous offender" because of previous convictions and was given an eight-year sentence for public protection – four years of custody and four years on extended licence after he is freed.

Judge Sean Morris heard how he was locked up for two-and-a-a-half years in 2007 for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm for a stabbing, and again in 2013 for two years for an attempted robbery in which he demanded car keys from the occupier of a home, grabbed her by the hair when she refused, throttled her then kicked and punched her.

The judge told him: "You have a proven track record of offering violence to members of the public. I think there is a significant risk of you committing further specified offences.

"The best argument against finding you dangerous is that no actual physical harm was inflicted, but it may well be that was a degree of luck because she fled."

He told Taylor: "The dangerous driving was the deliberate ramming of a police car and a police van.

"I have been saying in this court room time and time again, when the blue lights go on, you stop and if you don't and you try to get away, you go to prison for it."

He added: "The pair of you fall to be dealt with for a terrifying robbery on a betting shop, when both of you had some form of weapon in your hands.

"The lady was absolutely petrified. You wore masks, you planned it, you were loitering outside choosing your moment, and you came in mob-handed."

Robert Mochrie, for Baker, said: "There was no intent here to cause any actual physical harm, but I don't minimise how frightening it would have been.

"He doesn't appear to be waving the weapon in front of the unfortunate lady's face, and he denies he made any verbal threats towards her, but clearly the behaviour would have been enough to frighten even the most casual observer."

Garry Wood, for Taylor, who was allowed out of prison last week for his father's funeral, said: "He certainly has a lot of growing up to do. He behaved badly."