THE criminal masterminds behind an attempted £7m armed heist at a Securicor headquarters are beginning lengthy sentences behind bars today.

Armed gang leaders Paul Gardner, 29, and Thomas Peacock, 34, stole a Hino six-wheel tipper lorry from Stockton, and smashed their way into the security base in Washington, Wearside.

In a highly-planned raid last March, they used the lorry to plough through a perimeter fence, sending terrified guards fleeing to their vans.

After ramming their way through shutter doors, the pair, along with other masked raiders, threatened staff with sawn-off shotguns, but left empty-handed.

They then fled in stolen cars, including a Range Rover taken from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, which belonged to a 60-year-old man.

The car owner had been dragged from the car and beaten with a baseball bat. Another car owner was threatened with a gun and hit across the back of the head with the butt after he handed over the keys.

After a three-week trial, the jury at Newcastle Crown Court took three hours to convict Gardner, of Glendower Avenue, Newcastle, and Peacock, of Thorncliffe Place, North Shields, of conspiracy to rob.

Sentencing them to 15 years each, Judge Esmond Faulks said: "There was clearly a risk of death or injury to those inside. Evidently, you and your group could not care less."

After an intensive police investigation the pair were arrested last May.

Detective Chief Inspector Terry Atkinson said: "Unfortunately, there is not enough evidence to bring the pair to justice over further raids.

"But I believe they were the masterminds behind similar attacks across the North including Carlisle, Durham and the Northumbria Police area."

Insp Atkinson added: "It has involved a lot of leg work and painstaking inquiries by a small team of professional and highly dedicated officers.

"We are satisfied that they will both be behind bars for a number of years."

Peacock was cleared of a further charge of conspiring to commit robbery.

Judge Faulks said: "Only a long prison sentence is appropriate.

"You caused panic and terror to enable your group to steal what might have been a very large amount of money."