A “sophisticated” gang of thieves who were thwarted by police in Reading used stolen 4x4s in a spate of “loud and aggressive” ram-raids across southern England have been jailed.

William Connors, 29, Darren Easthaugh, 36, Anthony Rodwell, 33, and Sebastian Gnyp, 37, struck jewellers across London and the home counties, reversing Land Rovers and Range Rovers through the front doors, storming the premises with sledgehammers and angle grinders, and sometimes dragging out safes with metal chains attached to their vehicles.

The group, seen dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, stole £1.2 million of goods and caused a further £1.8 million of damage in a 10-month spree between November 2021 and August 2022.

The serial robbers evaded capture until police swarmed on them during a final raid on an Esso Tesco Express in Caversham, Reading, on August 19 2022, after a six-month surveillance operation.

Officers tasered Connors when he “violently resisted” arrest, Isleworth Crown Court in west London heard on Thursday, and days later they arrested Gnyp. He had fled the scene by running through a primary school.

Prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood told the court the “devastation” wrought by the gang was “long-lasting”, causing “shock” to witnesses and business owners, who suffered an estimated £1.5 million in loss of earnings due to closures.

He said they also stole “high-end getaway cars” using “sophisticated remote interference” to access them and attached stolen number plates to the vehicles to conceal them.

Mr Probert-Wood said: “The MO was loud and very aggressive with vehicles being driven on to the forecourt before being reversed into the front of the building, sometimes through metal security grills.

“Once access was gained members of the gang go into shops seen with things like ankle grinders, sledgehammers and sometimes with chains to try and drag out ATMs and safes.

“It’s a very violent attack, it all happens very quickly, depending not on stealth but on speed.

Reading Chronicle: Ram Raid at Esso Tesco Express in Caversham, Reading. Pic: Met Police

“I use the word attacks because burglary seems a passive term when it comes to what these actions were like.

“The gang were finally caught in the last attack on August 19, 2022 when they attacked the Esso Tesco premises in Caversham.”

Mr Probert-Wood said Easthaugh, Connors and Rodwell all have previous convictions, with Rodwell having pumped gas into ATM machines to “cause an explosion” and take the money inside.

Deborah Morris, representing Rodwell, the gang’s getaway driver, said the father-of-three had ambitions to become an HGV delivery driver in the future.

She said he felt under “pressure to provide for his family” upon his release from prison prior to the raids.

“He said very simply: ‘I did what I knew best’, and reverted to stealing cars,” she said.

Judge Simon Davis described the men as a “professional team of burglars and ram-raiders who chose to see if they could make a big buck”, adding their raids were a “sophisticated criminal enterprise”.

He said the group had caused “enormous destruction”, causing businesses to close and staff to be laid off.

The judge sentenced them for a total of 53 offences, including burglary and theft.

Easthaugh and Connors received a prison term of six years and six months, while Rodwell was given five years and 10 months, and Gnyp was jailed for three years.

Speaking outside court, Detective Constable Pippa Bregazzi, from the Met Police Flying Squad which carried out surveillance on the group, said: “Footage of the burglaries demonstrates the ruthlessness in which the men used the cars as battering rams to access shops’ tills and cash machines.

“They had absolutely no thought for the victims of their crimes and it was clear they would have continued to target vehicle owners and shops across the south of England unless they were stopped.

“I am glad they have now been brought to justice and will spend a lengthy time in jail.”