AN ARMED robber has been jailed for 12 and a half years for his role in a £300k jewellery raid.

Steven Anderson, 33, of Montserrat Avenue, Bolton, was one of four men who raided family-run Humberstones jewellers in Blackburn, smashing every display cabinet and stealing watches and jewellery which have never been recovered.

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 just 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 stolen BMW.

Two men were arrested later that day but Anderson, and another man fled the area. While he was on the run, Anderson also took part in a cash van robbery at a garage in Fleetwood, for which he and three other men were each jailed for 10 years.

Judge Stuart Baker heard that whilst in prison Anderson was attacked and suffered a perforated bladder, for which he now needs a catheter.

Sentencing Anderson for the jewellery robbery, he said: “I recognise you are now serving by far the longest period of custody you have ever served.

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

“At the end of the day I cannot lose sight of the fact that 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 Mardsen, 28, of Chapelside Close, Wigan, was given a 19-year sentence for their roles in the robbery.

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