A gang who used a sledgehammer to smash their way into a jewellery shop in Seven Kings as part of a spate of robberies across London has been jailed.

Five people can be seen entering the Asha jewellery shop in High Road during the armed robbery which happened in April last year.

The five were part of a 10 strong gang which were jailed for a combined 82 years at the Old Bailey today. They pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob.

They were caught after police kept watch on a makeshift campsite they were using on waste ground near the A12.

During the robber a man wearing a smart suit rang the bell to gain entry through the first of two security doors.

He then held the door open for the other four men who smashed their way into the shop with sledgehammers.

One of the gang members proceeded to shatter the display cabinets before the gold jewellery was stolen.

The men fled the shop with almost £250,000 worth of jewellery and escaped through a pre-cut hold in the fence alongside the railway lines opposite the jewellery shop. They then changed their clothes before making their way back through the fence.

On searching the area police found clothes and stolen jewellery which had been hidden in pre-dug trenches and covered over by fresh soil.

Speaking at the time shop owner Asha Sadheurah said: “There were three of us in the shop at the time and we were shouting on the phone for the police to come. We were all frightened.”

After an investigation by specialist police unit the flying squad, the gang were caught for armed robberies in Wembley, East Ham, Southwark and Haringey.

Det Ch Insp Ian Corner from the flying squad said: “These were violent armed robberies during which innocent members of staff were terrorised and genuinely feared for their lives.”

Speaking at the trial Old Bailey judge Timothy Pontius said that the Romanian nationals had come to the UK specifically to commit crimes.

He said: “None of the defendants appear to have done an honest day’s work while they were here. All will be deported, and rightly so.”