A brazen gang of gun-wielding robbers have been jailed for a total of 28 years for targeting eight petrol stations and late night stores as they 'ran wild on the streets of Bradford'.

The young thugs, headed by 19-year-old Kaiser Hussain, systematically targeted "vulnerable" shop workers in just three weeks - including three separate robberies in one night.

Ugly scenes of violence broke out among the robbers as they were led to the cells at Leeds Crown Court after being sentenced to between four and ten-and-a-half years behind bars.

Hussain, his brother Matloob, Mohammed Akram, and a 17-year-old already jailed for his part in the Bradford riots, who cannot be named for legal reasons, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.

Matloob was sentenced to an extra six months for "audaciously" escaping from Doncaster Prison pretending to be his cell mate due for release and going on the run for two months while awaiting trial.

And Judge Peter Benson ordered all four to return before him next week after the courtroom brawl that lasted for several minutes before security staff overpowered the men.

He said the level of violence was "unacceptable" and called for an inquiry into what had gone on in the dock.

Earlier, the court heard how the men were part of a gang responsible for seven incidents in Bradford and one in Huddersfield between September 8 and 27, 2001. In each case, terrified shop assistants had been threatened with what appeared to be an air pistol, warned they would be shot, and forced to hand over cash.

Sentencing, Judge Benson told the men they had been "running wild" on the streets of Bradford. "In September of last year, the citizens and the shopworkers of Bradford were subject to a brief reign of terror in that there were a number of robberies carried out at shops and petrol stations, mostly at night and involving a firearm or imitation firearm," he said.

"Wholesale offending on this scale is extremely serious indeed. Each individual offence is extremely serious. These were vulnerable persons who were easy prey for your activities."

The gang - who rotated the same clothes for each robbery to avoid identification - even goaded police by using a black Vauxhall Cavalier with the words 'Kaiser the Cop Killer' written on the registration plate.

Today Detective Constable Ross Wadsworth, who was praised along with his colleagues for their efforts in catching the gang, said the robbers had been guilty of a "campaign of mindless violence".

"Some of the staff at the shops that were targeted have not been able to go back to work because of the fear of it all," he said. "For several days in September it became quite ridiculous and it is a great relief to have these men behind bars."

The court heard how the campaign of violence began on September 8 when a female assistant at the Fina garage in Queen's Road, Bradford, was threatened at gunpoint and £120 in cash plus phone cards and cigarettes were taken.

After further robberies in Bradford and Huddersfield, staff at Wineways in Bingley Road, Saltaire, were ordered to lie on the floor as the robbers snatched more than £600.

And during a raid on Victoria Wine in Bingley, a shop assistant was pushed in the face with the gun and then locked in a back room with customers as the robbers grabbed cash from the till.

That was one of three separate raids on September 25, which Kaiser Hussain's defence barrister Stephen Williamson QC admitted had been "a mad day".

In the afternoon, Kaiser, of Park View Terrace, Heaton, had punched a road workman in the face and doused him in petrol after the worker shouted at Kaiser for driving through some roadworks.

The men were eventually identified by officers using a combination of CCTV footage and fingerprints left at the scenes.

Judge Benson told Kaiser, who had previous convictions for robbery: "It seems to me you were at the centre of this conspiracy. You were involved in all the identifiable robberies, and you showed you were prepared to use intimidation and violence."

He received a total sentence of ten-and-a-half years, including a concurrent two-and-a-half years for a burglary at Darro's Mini Market, Bradford, on the night of the city's riots, in which property worth £8,000 was taken.

His brother Matloob, 21, also of Park View Terrace, received seven years, including six months for escaping from Doncaster Prison by pretending to be his cell mate, who had been due for release. Mitigating, Julian Goose QC said Matloob had only been present at two of the robberies, and had been out of the UK for most of September.

Mohammed Akram, 22, of Mitcham Drive, Heaton, was also jailed for seven years. The court heard he had also not been involved in the early robberies, or the incidents of September 25.

Mitigating, Robert Egbune QC said Akram had been deeply affected by the death of his father in 1999 and said he knew he had "brought shame on his family".

The other man, a 17-year-old youth, is currently serving a sentence for his part in the Bradford Riots. His representative Rodney Scholes said he had only been present at one of the robberies and had not carried a gun. He was given four years' detention.