A GANG who conspired to carry out a spate of “fearsome” robberies on G4S cash-in-transit vans has been locked for a total of nearly 30 years.

In one incident, a female driver was attacked with a machete outside a Tesco store in Bradford, before the offenders made off with a cash box containing more than £11,000.

The group also targeted another Tesco’s in Stanningley but were foiled before reaching the shop.

Prosecutor Tim Capstick told Bradford Crown Court that around 3pm on May 25, security guard Carol Lane was jumped from behind by two men outside the Tesco Express shop on Bolton Road.

CCTV footage showed one of the men carrying a machete, which he held during a struggle in which Mrs Lane was thrown to the floor.

She suffered bruising, and said in a victim impact statement that the incident had led her to undergo counselling as she was now “fearful of being out in public on her own.”

The two men then made off to join two others in a waiting Ford Focus car, which was later found burnt out in the Silverhill Road area of Bradford.

The occupants had switched to a Ford Mondeo which they then crashed into a Subaru before ploughing into a garden wall, abandoning the car at the junction of Silverhill Drive and Upper Rushton Road.

One man, Mohammed Shah, 19, was arrested at the scene and a lump hammer, taser, and three empty petrol cans were recovered from the Mondeo.

Officers also later found a machete and £3,480 at Shah’s home address in Stonegate Road, Bradford.

Humza Ali, 19, of Sunnybank Avenue, Thornbury, Bradford, and a 17 year-old youth, who cannot be named, were linked to the car by scientific evidence.

Mr Capstick said that on June 26, Ali and the 17 year-old were arrested alongside Tariq Aziz, 20, of Leeds Road, Bradford, after the trio were seen “acting suspiciously” in a Saab car near the Tesco Express store in Town Street, Stanningley.

A knife and a lump hammer were found in the vehicle, alongside items including tights, a balaclava, and gloves.

Nisha Nadeem, 21, of Woodhall Park Crescent East, Stanningley, was a pharmacy student and former girlfriend of Aziz who worked at the store.

She had provided information to him about when the cash-in-transit vans visited stores in Bradford and Leeds, and admitted a charge of aiding and abetting a robbery.

The other four defendants pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to rob, with Ali also admitting to the possession of heroin in an unrelated incident.

In mitigation submissions, the court heard that none of the gang had admitted wielding the machete or acting as the leader of the group.

In response, Judge Jonathan Rose said: “They all took an equal role, other than the role of organiser.”

Aziz was sentenced to seven years and nine months in a young offender’s institution, with Ali given seven years and eight months.

Shah was sentenced to six years detention, with Nadeem ordered to serve two years.

The 17-year-old youth was detained for five years and four months.

Judge Rose told the gang they had committed “carefully and professionally planned offences.”

On the Bolton Road robbery, he said: “It matters little who wielded the machete, you all agreed it would be used to instil fear into Mrs Lane. It was a fearsome bladed weapon. She was clearly and understandably extremely upset and frightened.

“This was not a single offence, but a conspiracy to commit multiple offences.”

Speaking after the sentencing, detective chief inspector Andrew Howard, of Bradford District Police, said: “This gang planned to carry out a series of robberies on cash-in-transit vans in Bradford and Leeds by using Nadeem’s knowledge of when and where the cash collections would take place.

“The weapons seized in this investigation prove they were prepared to use whatever means necessary to get what they wanted. I would like to thank those who supported our team of detectives with investigating these offences which undoubtedly prevented further incidents and brought these criminals to justice.

“These types of offences are thankfully uncommon and police in Bradford continue to work with organisations who deliver and collect cash across the district to make sure their employees can go about their business in safety.”