Eleven members of an organised crime group who preyed on petrol stations and convenience stores have been jailed for a total of 75 years after a series of robberies in Stockport and Tameside.
Six men from Stockport aged between 18 and 34 and a 17-year-old youth pleaded guilty at Minshull Street Crown Court to conspiracy to commit robbery.
Between 20 August 2013 and 11 March 2014 the gang used baseball bats, hammers, bricks and pieces of wood to threaten members of staff during robberies at petrol stations and convenience stores.
In the course of the robberies, cigarettes and cash totalling several thousand pounds was stolen.
Four additional men, three of no fixed address and one from Stockport pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery between 26 March 2014 and 8 April 2014. The offenders used a crowbar and threatened to steal money and property in the Stockport and Tameside areas.
All the men were jailed on Thursday 3 April 2015, with sentences ranging from three years to nine and half years. The youth received a six-month sentence.
Detective sergeant Richard Castley said: “The gang threatened their victims with violence, using weapons to get exactly what they wanted. Thankfully, no one was injured but the mental scars their actions have left on their victims will take a long time to heal.”
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