A MEMBER of an armed robbery gang that smashed down a house door to terrorise a Bradford family at dead of night has been jailed for eight years.

Jordan Regis was one of five masked intruders who threatened Paul Haley and Rebecca Swain with knives and bats while demanding to know where cannabis was hidden, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

The couple were asleep at the property with two teenage boys and a girl aged six, prosecutor Camille Morland said.

There was no cannabis at the address and the robbers fled empty-handed, threatening to burn down the house if the police were alerted.

Regis, who was disguised in a balaclava, was struck on the head with a machete after threatening one of the young men in his bedroom.

He needed 14 stitches to a head wound and blood left at the crime scene led to his arrest.

Miss Morland said that Regis, 23, of Scoresby Street, Little Germany, Bradford, was the only member of the gang to be brought to justice.

He pleaded guilty to attempted robbery at the house in Collinfield Rise, Woodside, Bradford, at around 2am on May 1.

The court heard the gang of up to five men smashed their way into the house through a glass door panel.

They were shouting "Where's the weed?" and armed with a cricket bat, baseball bat and knives.

Miss Swain was threatened with a knife when she tried to make sure the little girl was safe.

Mr Haley was struck on the arm and one of the teenagers was hit on the head with a bat.

After the gang had run off, a metal bar and bicycle forks were recovered from the scene.

Miss Morland said Regis had two previous convictions for robbery, when he was aged 13 and 16, and a conviction for house burglary.

He was also sentenced for possession of heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis and was on police bail at the time of the robbery attempt.

Regis's barrister, Stephen Couch, said the blow from the machete had put Regis off committing such crimes.

"He thought he was going to die," Mr Couch told the court.

Regis was using cannabis at 16 and went on to start sniffing cocaine in his late teens.

He hoped to work in the building trade and to gain qualifications while behind bars.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Roger Thomas QC, said: "This was not a house where there was any cannabis. It contained a middle aged couple, two young men and a girl aged six. You broke in by smashing down the door and breaking into locked bedrooms. The whole family was woken and terrified."