A CRIME gang which racked up £200,000 from a string of terrifying armed robberies have been jailed for a total of 34-years.

The four-strong gang were caught as a result of Operation Dominator, a police investigation into a series of highly organised and well-planned armed robberies across Greater Manchester, inlcuding in Atherton and Bolton

Richard Smith, aged 37, of Pegwell Drive, Salford, Patrick McDonagh, aged 37, of Ridge Crescent, Whitefield, David Dargan, aged 32, of no fixed address and John Groom, aged 36, of Manchester Road, Worsley, were sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty at earlier hearings.

The four wore SWAT-like uniforms and would be armed with crowbars, sledge hammers and wham rams as they targeted shops, banks and cash-in-transit drivers to steal as much cash as they were able to before raising any alarms.

When targeting cash-in-transit drivers, they would park up vans, identify their opportunity and scare the driver away before attacking the van, sometimes with a wham ram, to gain access to the cash.

Once back in the van they arrived in, they would drive to a location where they had parked a getaway car and switch vehicles before disposing of the false plates and driving away.

The group did this between December 2016 and August 2017. On one occasion, they threw a metal grid through a glass door before ransacking a bank.

On 29 August 2017 police lay in wait behind what would be the final getaway car for the gang to appear.

They arrived in a white van and began to move their cash into the getaway car.

Officers intercepted the team, the defendants tried to run away but straight towards the officers who lay in waiting and were detained.

Detective Sergeant Rick Castley of GMP’s Serious and Organised Group, said: "They were clearly a sophisticated organised crime group who ended up stealing a huge amount of money, all at the risk of businesses and people’s safety.

"With the amount of money they were managing to get their hands on, I’m sure they were hoping to make quite a lavish life out of this without putting in a hard day’s work.

"Today we can rest easy they’ll be seeing out the next part of their lives in prison where no amount of fear or battering rams will help them escape."

Smith was sentenced to 10 years and six months for one count of conspiracy to commit robbery, two counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery.

McDonagh was sentenced to 10 years and six months for one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and two counts of robbery.

Dargan was sentenced to six years and six months for one count of attempted robbery and two counts of robbery.

Groom was sentenced to six years and six months for one count of attempted robbery and two counts of robbery.

Sarah Staff the Head of Safercash said: "The outcome of this investigation is an excellent example of the Greater Manchester Police Serious& Organised Crime Groups dedication and ability to tackle serious and organised crime at the highest level. Safercash continues to support the partnership work between the UK Police Service and the financial and security industry whose staff and employees are affected by these serious crimes."