A GANG of masked robbers who terrorised families and young children during a gunpoint raid on a traveller site have been jailed for 202 years.

The victims were tied and one couple was threatened with shooters pointed at their heads while their six-year-old son pleaded: “Daddy, please don't let them kill me”.

A dad of seven was struck with a truncheon and handgun, before falling to the ground where he was kicked, beaten with a crowbar and baseball bat, and stabbed to his arm and thigh.

They had equipped themselves with dust masks, reinforced tape, latex gloves, torches, cable ties and demolition bars bought from branches of B&Q and Poundland just hours before the raid, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

But the raiders were forced to flee almost empty-handed from Wheat Gratten Stable Yards in the village of Lenham in Kent, when the residents fought back.

They chased the raiders across field and rammed getaway vehicles, some of which were badly damaged and had to be abandoned at the scene.

A total of 17 men were later identified by police, with fourteen subsequently convicted and jailed for conspiracy to rob following a series of trials over two years.

Their sentences ranged between nine years and 21 years with the final raider Junior Shawki Tamakloe, described as 'a critical player' in both organising and overseeing the raid, jailed today.

The 32-year-old from London pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob and was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years.

Previous hearings saw Aaron Mayers, 31, from Hackney, jailed for 16 years; Nana Danquah, also 31 and from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, jailed for 18 years; Darren Myers, 33 and from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, jailed for 21 years; and Jake Jenks, 23, also from Tunbridge Wells, jailed for 14 years.

Connor Miller, 21, also from Tunbridge Wells, was imprisoned for 13 years; Lee Baker, 29, from Eastbourne, was jailed for 12 years; Nyake Alieu, 33, also from Eastbourne, was jailed for 16 years; and 26-year-old Brady Dewson was jailed for 12 years.

Ahmed Ali, 23, from London, was jailed for 13 years; Jheryl Long, 24, from London, was jailed for 16 years; Glenn Kenny, 25 and from Suffolk, was jailed for nine years and four months; and John Smillie, 25, from Walthamstow, and Faisal Issah, 24, from Tottenham, were each jailed for 14 years.

None however were convicted of carrying a firearm and/or imitation firearm with intent.

Passing sentence, Judge Julian Smith said the 'mass attack' on the traveller site was 'bold, audacious, determined and exceptional', carried out in the hope of 'significant reward'.

One of the armed robbers himself spoke of the expectation of a 'life-changing' financial gain.

At the start of each trial, prosecutor Nina Ellin told the jury: "The masked men were dressed in dark clothing and armed with a variety of weapons including a sawn-off shotgun, a handgun, iron bars and a machete.

"They were demanding large sums of money at the point of a gun. They terrorised the occupants of the caravans which included women and young children and one man was brutally attacked.

"They tied up some of their victims with cable ties which they had brought with them ready for that purpose."

But the court heard the 'tables were turned' when the raiders themselves came under attack.

"Other occupants sought to repel the attackers. Shots were fired, vehicles were rammed, and the attackers withdrew into the night," added Miss Ellin.

Police found four cars abandoned at the stableyard. Another, a gold Audi TT, was traced and the occupants arrested. Others were identified and arrested through DNA, fingerprints, mobile phone data, CCTV and automatic number plate recognition cameras.

The raid involved four 'teams' from London, Kent, Sussex and Essex coming together and 'converging' on the stableyard at the same time.

Miss Ellin said CCTV at a B&Q store in Tottenham, north London, and a Poundland branch in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, showed several gang members buying their 'equipment', while others carried out a reconnaissance of the site.
Three men, Vincent Stickings, 31, from Thamesmead, south London, Kieon Barker, 24 and from Stoke Newington, and Irasto Yoxall, 32, from Bethnal Green, were cleared of any involvement.