FIVE armed robbers who targeted high-class jewellery stores were today jailed for a total of 36 years.

The men – including two who carried out a �78,000 raid on Goldsmiths jewellers in Tavern Street, Ipswich – were sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court this afternoon.

George Paget, 20, and Dean Armstrong, 21, were part of the gang who rode into Ipswich on motorcycles to carry out the smash-and-grab on the morning of June 15 last year.

The bikes pulled up outside Goldsmiths and the pillion passengers, who were carrying a sledgehammer and an axe, had gone into the store and smashed display cases containing Rolex and Omega watches.

The robbers then went out of town heading towards Henley Road.

The bikes were later found discarded in One House Lane, between Henley Road and Dale Hall Lane.

Paget and Armstrong were also part of the gang who conspired to rob Thurlow Champness in Abbeygate Street, Bury St Edmunds, on February 28 last year.

Both were sentenced to nine years in prison.

Fellow defendants Charlie Kavanagh, 21, and Jed Macdonald, 22, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. They were jailed for six years each.

A fifth man, Dwayne Marsh, 34, was found guilty of the same charge following a trial at Ipswich Crown Court. He also received a six-year jail term.

Two scooters, each carrying two people, had pulled up outside the jewellers.

One was used to ram open the door and the two pillion passengers, who were armed with a sledgehammer, had gone into the shop and smashed display cases containing Rolex watches.

As one of the men tried to leave the shop with a bag containing �22,000 worth of watches, he was tackled by 71-year-old Michael Graver, who grabbed hold of the bag, leaving the robbers to flee empty-handed.