TWO men from south-east London have been given jail sentences totalling 17 years after a string of violent robberies.

Leroy Wilkinson, aged 29, and 33-year-old Victor Iniodu were jailed at Kingston Crown Court today (November 3) along with five other men for their involvement in 18 robberies and attempted robberies in 2006 and last year.

The gang is thought to have stolen around £500,000 from security vans across the south of England.

Police say that during some of the robberies a gun was used to threaten security staff.

On one occasion a shot was fired while in two other incidents a gun was pressed against a terrified guard’s head.

A loaded handgun was also recovered after a raid in Chandlers Ford, Hampshire, in September last year.

During this robbery the ringleader of the gang, 35-year-old Mark Nunes, and his accomplice Andrew Markland, aged 36, were shot dead by police.

Wilkinson, of Dartmouth Road, Forest Hill, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his part in the highly-organised robberies, while Iniodu, of Wichling Close, Orpington, was given a five-year jail term.

Both had been found guilty of conspiracy to rob.

The investigation into the crime spree has so far uncovered around £150,000, two guns and nineteen rounds of ammunition.