A gang of armed robbers who terrorised local businesses, cash in transit companies and the community in general across south west London have been jailed.

Guns, knives and hammers were used by the gang of ten, including Curtis Brown, 19, of Woodcroft Road, Thornton Heath, who was jailed for eight years at Kingston Crown Court on Friday March 2.

The court heard how detectives investigated 54 offences of commercial and cash-in-transit robberies committed between September 2010 and February 2011.

Detective Constable Iain Law, from the Flying Squad based in Barnes, said: "The removal of these men from the streets has resulted in a reduction in commercial robberies in south-west London.

“I also hope that their sentencing will reassure those who live and work in these areas that these men have been brought to justice.

"For more than six months these men ruthlessly and recklessly carried out a string of robberies, sometimes targeting the same premises repeatedly, and they created an atmosphere of fear whilst making a lucrative career out of their wrongdoing.

The court heard how the men, part of an organised network run out of Wandsworth, covered their faces and used weapons to intimidate their victims, on two occasions shooting guns and once stabbing a shop worker in the arm.

Brown was found guilty of two charges of robbery, targeting a motorcycle store in Chelsea on January 20 last year, and a Tesco Express in Battersea Park on February 2, 2011.

He was also found guilty of possession of a firearm or imitation firearm.