AN ARMED robber who attacked a Blackburn jewellers before fleeing through Burnley to Todmorden has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Shah Hussain, 29, of Lichfield Road, Birmingham was sentenced at Preston Crown Court after a three-day trial earlier this year where he was found guilty of robbery.

Hussain was part of a five-man gang who went into Rahman’s jewellers, Whalley Range, Blackburn, posing as customers around 1.45pm on Thursday 23 October 2008.

Wearing balaclavas and masks, they threatened the owner, a 31-year-old man, with an axe, hammer and a knife.

The gang, who are all from the Birmingham area, hit the owner to the head before smashing their way out through the shop window and making off with jewellery in a black Audi getaway car. They attempted to set the car on fire after abandoning it at the back of Goldhey Street and escaping in a Fiat Punto at speed.

A driving instructor spotted the men leaving the shop and contacted the police. He then instructed his learner driver to follow the suspects, giving police a running commentary until they reached the motorway.

After a chase through Burnley the car was abandoned in Portsmouth, near Todmorden following a collision with another car. Five men were arrested soon after in the area, one up a tree.

Four of the men; Asad Mohammed, 25, of Newton Road, Sparkhill, Birmingham; Mohammed Nasir Khan, 19, of Walford Road, Birmingham; Adnan Ahmed, 20, of Baker Street, Sparkhill, Birmingham and a 17- year-old man from Birmingham, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all pleaded guilty to robbery and were sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison.