Two raiders who were caught taking thousands of pounds worth of steel from

an offshore engineering firm were spared jail yesterday.

Kevin Dunn and Darren Gibson were part of a gang who cut the lock at a storage facility in Amec, Wallsend, North Tyneside,where £50,000 worth of steel fabrication equipment was being kept.

When police arrived in the early hours of February 14, the raiders had already loaded £9,000-worth of polished steel into their van.

Newcastle Crown Court was told how the thieves tried to flee from officers but were quickly caught.

Dunn, 36, of Ravensworth Road, South Shields and Gibson, 30, of Walsh Avenue, Hebburn, appeared before the court in the summer when they admitted burglary and had their sentences defered for six months.

The pair were back before the court yesterday and defence barristers said both Dunn and Gibson had abided by the terms of the deferment by staying out of trouble, finding work and saving money towards prosecution costs.

Both Dunn and Gibson received nine month prison sentences, suspended for 12 months. They were each ordered to pay £300 costs.

Adrian Paisley, 31, of Ranson Crescent, South Shields, who also admitted burglary, also received a deferred sentence at the previous hearing, but his case was further adjourned yesterday as his pre-sentence report had not yet been prepared.

Dunn and Michael Vassallo, of Cobbett Crescent, South Shields, also admitted handling stolen goods in relation to a large quantity of equipment taken from a garden centre in Chester-le-Street.

Vassallo was sentenced to a conditional discharge for 18 months and ordered to pay £200 costs. Dunn received a four-month concurrent suspended sentence in relation to the handling.