AN armed robber has been jailed for 12 and a half years for his role in a £300,000 jewellery raid at a Blackburn shop.

Steven Anderson, 33, was one of four men who targeted family-run Humberstones jewellers, smashing every display cabinet and stealing watches and jewellery, which have never been found.

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Staff from the shop in King William Street cowered in a store room as the men, armed with an axe and machete, set about looting the premises on July 13 last year.

It was the second time the shop has been raided in two years, after two men armed with a handgun smashed display cabinets with a hammer in September 2013.

One sales executive, who was working at the time of both raids, said: “I was frightened to death.

“When we came out the shop was in bits. There was glass everywhere. The cabinets had been smashed open. It was a mess.

“I felt really shaky and I felt bad for the owners too as it is a family business.”

Preston Crown Court heard the men fled the scene in a stolen VW Golf before abandoning the vehicle and switching to a second stolen vehicle, a BMW.

Two men were arrested later that day but Anderson, and another man who remains at large, fled the area.

While he was on the run, Anderson took part in a cash van robbery at a garage in Fleetwood.

He and three other men were each jailed for 10 years for their roles.

Judge Stuart Baker sentencing, said: “I recognise you are now serving by far the longest period of custody you have ever served.

“I take note that while in prison you have suffered a grievous injury.

“I am also informed your partner stands by you.

“At the end of the day I can not lose sight of the fact that in July last year, you and three other men, clearly desperate and determined men, entered a jewellery shop with an axe and a machete.

“It must have intended to frighten. Two or three of the staff who gave statements said they were terrified, petrified, numb with fear.

“This was a very serious, professionally planned, robbery.

“It involved the use of stolen vehicles, disguises, masks to conceal your identities and the use of weapons to frighten and terrify staff. Fortunately no one was injured and it may well be that it was never the intention to injure but they were all scared.”

In February Danny Booth, 27, of Park Road, Westhoughton, Bolton, was jailed for seven years, six months and Scott Marsden, 28, of Chapelside Close, Wigan, was handed a 19-year sentence, which includes time for other drugs-related offences, for their roles in the robbery.

Handing Anderson, of Montserrat Avenue, Bolton, an extended sentence of 12 years and eight months behind bars with a further five years on licence, Judge Stuart Baker told him: “I have already found you to be dangerous and this offence only emphasises that finding.”