October 15, 2019 4.11 pm This story is over 53 months old

Two masked burglars jailed for raid on shop

They ordered staff to open the safe before stealing thousands of pounds

Two masked men who stole from a safe during a raid on a Gainsborough convenience store have been jailed for over four years.

Mark Cutler and Zak Metcalfe entered the shop on April 1 and went into the back of the shop where the safe was.

Lisa Hardy, prosecuting, said the pair had obtained the code number for the safe.

The burglars ordered the staff to open the safe which had £4,200 and €300 together with a passport and a cheque for £16,000.

The shop owner Anthony Allbones came downstairs and confronted the pair telling them he was going to call police.

Cutler and Metcalfe went to a house in Pingle Close where they were found by police. The stolen cash was found in a nearby shed.

Cutler, 30, of Tower Street, Gainsborough, and Metcalfe, 19, of Pingle Close, Gainsborough, each admitted a charge of burglary as a result of the incident on April 1 this year.

Cutler, who also admitted breach of an earlier suspended jail sentence, was jailed for 34 months and Metcalfe for 16 months.

Judge Simon Hirst, passing sentence, told them: “There was plainly a significant degree of planning and organisation.”

Jeremy Janes, for Cutler, said his client was remanded in custody after being charged and is now looking to put the matter behind him.

David Eager, for Metcalfe, said he assisted the police after his arrest telling them where they could find the money.