THREE burglars involved in a plot to break into big houses in the district to steal cash, gold and jewellery have been locked up for a total of more than ten years.

The gang wore balaclava masks and gloves to smash their way into substantial detached homes using specialist tools and equipment, Bradford Crown Court heard.

They terrified three children home alone, burgled a vicar while he was on holiday and left a grandmother unable to sleep at night.

Stefan Grogan, 23, of Leeds Road, Windhill, Shipley, Matthew Crooks, 24, of Back Lane, Wilsden, and Nathan Stapleton, 19, of Back Dale Street, Shipley, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle.

Yesterday, Grogan was jailed for four and a half years, Crooks for three years and four months and Stapleton was sentenced to two and a half years in a young offender institution.

Grogan was not in the dock because his behaviour in the court cells was so disruptive that he was sent back to prison before the case was heard.

Prosecutor Andrew Kershaw told the court that four homes were burgled on August 9 last year.

Two bungalows on King's Road, Wrose, were targeted by gang members who forced the doors with molegrips and made off with £5,000 worth of property, including an Armed forces services medal, jewellery and computers.

They next burgled a safe containing £8,000 from a shopkeeper's house in Honeypot Drive, Shipley, and a vicar's home, making off with a safe containing £2,350 of jewellery and an amount of cash.

The gang's getaway car, a silver Astra, crashed the next day on Park Lane, Keighley. The occupants fled on foot but the defendants were linked by DNA evidence to the vehicle.

A replacement Fiat Punto was bought and the gang struck again on August 27, targetting homes in Bingley, Utley, Heaton, and Ashfield Avenue in Frizinghall.

They caused fear and damage but ended up empty handed until they got to Frizinghall, Mr Kershaw said.

There, Grogan scaled a drainpipe while a student was in the bathroom of a five bedroom house.

He stole his wallet containing £30 and pulled the drainpipe off the wall as he made his escape.

A woman neighbour saw two of the gang in her back garden armed with a baseball bat and a pole. She fled upstairs and hid in her bedroom.

Five people were seen speeding off in the Fiat Punto.

Mr Kershaw said one of the burglary victims, the Reverend Canon Peter Hutchinson, of Keighley, lost jewellery of sentimental value but urged the judge to make any prison sentences as brief as possible.

An elderly woman victim was burgled just after learning that her sister had terminal cancer. She no longer felt safe in her home.

Abigail Langford, Crooks' barrister, said he was remorseful and realistic. He wished to make a public apology to his victims.

Stephen Wood, for Grogan, said he had not committed burglary since 2010 and his partner was standing by him.

Ash Mahmood said Stapleton was the youngest and had no previous convictions for burglary. He also wished to say sorry.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC said the three were part of a gang of up to five burglars targetting quality homes in a spate of offences that impacted on communities.

"The victims all refer to their trauma," he said.

"Three children home alone were frightened to death by men in balaclavas and gloves."

After the case, Detective Constable Richard Oxley, of the Western Area Burglary Team, said: "Bringing these men to justice is a fantastic result and I am delighted the court has recognised the seriousness of their offending by punishing them in this way."