A "NASTY" crook has been jailed for 10 years for his part in a raid on a security guard delivering cash to a Burnley store.

Robert Smith was part of a gang of men who planned and carried out the £10,000 ambush on a security guard at the Spar shop, Brunshaw Road, Pike Hill, on June 24 last year.

Preston Crown Court yesterday heard that Smith, 27, was caught when his DNA was found in an abandoned vehicle which had been used in the crime.

The Burnley raid was one of three robberies that netted the gang of four £65,000 between May and December last year. Smith took part in the other two raids in Scotland and Wales. None of the money stolen was ever recovered.

Smith, of Walton, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to rob between dates in May and December last year.

After the case, PC Rachael Waine, who led an inquiry that also involved officers from North Wales and Scotland police forces, said: "We are very pleased with the 10-year sentence because he is a very nasty individual.

"This was a particularly violent offence in which the guard was pushed to the floor. He was the only one of what we believe to be a gang of four to be caught."

Spar shop manager Susan Wearing added: "Staff will no doubt be pleased at the length of the sentence."

Julie Taylor, prosecuting, said that a Securicor van was delivering cash to the Spar shop when a man taking cash into the premises was punched and pushed from behind. He fell to the floor, on top of the cash box.

Two men approached and wrestled with him, before the box was taken from underneath him and around £10,000 was stolen.

The victim saw both men running off towards a Y-registered Ford Focus which was later found abandoned nearby. Smith's DNA was found on a jacket inside the car.

All the vehicles used on the three occasions were stolen, the court heard.

Michael Scholes, defending, said Smith had put himself in very bad company due to domestic problems.

He added: "The defendant accepts that he was present as part of a team, but not personally involved in the infliction of violence.

"There is nothing to suggest he significantly benefited from the sums of money involved."

In passing sentence, Judge Edward Slinger said the case showed there had been a element of real care in planning the offence, which made it all the more serious.

He told Smith "You well knew when you became involved that if caught, you would face a very long period in prison.

"Your barrister says you were there, but did not personally use violence. You were well aware if violence had to be used, it would be.

"In each case, security guards were attacked as they were going about was is clearly a dangerous job. They will be protected by the court in so far as deterrent sentences are able to protect them".

Smith was also involved in an August raid on a Securicor van in Dyserth, North Wales and an attack on a security guard making a delivery to a cash machine at the Royal Bank of Scotland in Dunfermline, Scotland.