A gang who used an Ogwell location as their base of operations and targeted cashpoint machines using a hammer to rob a security guard have been jailed for a total of 29 years.

The five men carried out ram raids on Coop stores at Dartmouth and Paignton and three of them snatched £11,400 from a security guard in a violent attack.

They used a Land Rover and a Freelander in the two ram raids in which they tried unsuccessfully to drag free standing cashpoint machines out of the lobbies of the Coop shops.

They bungled each of the raids and left empty-handed. In the first, at Dartmouth, the tow bar fell off the Freelander and in the second the strap which they had wound around the ATM machine broke.

The men were all from Liverpool, although one, who was living locally, helped buy the vehicles they used one of the raids.

The others based themselves at Rydon Ball Farm, at Ogwell, Newton Abbot, as they planned the raids.

Their mini crime wave came to an end after they carried out a late-night robbery on two G4S guards who were refilling a cashpoint machine in the centre of Brixham.

They were identified by CCTV from the Paignton raid and the robbery and through police tracing the vehicles they used in the bungled burglaries.

They received long jail sentences totalling 29 years at Exeter Crown Court as Judge Erik Salomonsen told them this kind of organised criminal activity would not be tolerated.

Jonny Vaughan, aged 21, of Lyme Grove, Liverpool; Robin Vaughan, aged 27, of Huyton and Peter Atkinson, aged 18, of Scotchbarn Lane, Prescot, Merseyside all admitted conspiracy to rob a G4S security guard in Brixham in May 2016.

James Brewer, aged 35, of Brookwood Street, Liverpool, Ian Harris, aged 36, of Hele Road, Torquay; Robin and Jonny Vaughan, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle.

Brewer also admitted possession of heroin and cocaine to supply in an unrelated case in North Wales.

Jonny Vaughan was jailed for seven years and one month, Robin Vaughan for 10 years, Brewer for four years and eight months, Harris for three years and seven months, and Atkinson for three years and eight months.

The differences in the length of the sentences were determined by the extent of previous criminal records, the degree of involvement in the offences, the timing of guilty pleas, and Atkinson’s age, which was just 17 when he carried out the robbery.

The judge told them: ‘The burglaries at the Coop shops were planned. Cars were purchased, along with equipment such as straps and jackets. Accommodation was arranged. You each played a part in the conspiracy.

‘The burglaries were akin to ram raiding. In my judgment, those who commit these offences of attacking ATM machines in banks or shop cannot avoid immediate custody.

‘The aggravating features of the robbery were the high value of cash targeted, the vulnerability of the security guard, the fact it was at night and clearly well planned.

‘Identities were concealed and the offence was carried out in the middle of a quiet town like Brixham. This is offending which had a real impact on the community.’

Mr Don Tait, prosecuting, said the first raid in Dartmouth took place on April 23 last year and was followed by an identical attempt to drag the cash machine out of the Coop in Cherry Brook, Paignton on May 31.

The windows were smashed with rocks and the Land Rovers or vans used to drag back security grilles so gang members could get inside. Both raids caused serious damage.

He said four of the defendants came down from Liverpool in 2015 and were based for some of that time at Rydon Hall Farm.

The robbery was carried out at 10.45pm on May 18 when the G4S van was attacked as one guard was inside the Santander bank in Brixham and the other was carrying a cassette of money.

He was hit over the head with a weapon thought to be a hammer. Jonny Vaughan and Atkinson seized the money and ran to a getaway car driven by Robin Vaughan.

The guard was not seriously hurt, but his colleague, an ex-soldier who watched on helplessly from inside the bank, suffered serious psychological harm which has led him to give up his job and seek help for PTSD.

Mr Andrew Nuttall, for Jonny Vaughan, said he had no previous convictions and had been dragged into crime by his brother and other members of his family.

Mr Tarquin McCalla, for Robin Vaughan, said he had not known a weapon was going to be used in the robbery and his only role was as getaway driver. He said Vaughan wants to become a football coach when he is released.

Mr David Miller, for Atkinson, said he was only 17 at the time. He was naïve, vulnerable and exploited by others.

Miss Frances Hertzog, for Brewer, said he was only involved in the burglary at the Paignton Co-op. The drug offences in Wales happened when he was on the run from the police and living in a caravan.

Mr Lee Bremridge, for Harris, said he was not involved in the Dartmouth burglary and his role in the Paignton raid had been to help to buy the vehicles which were used in it.

Since his arrest he has overcome a problem of drug addiction. He has a partner and a child and wants to find work as a landscape gardener.