Robbery ringleader is jailed

The robbers were caught on CCTV footage

A man who led a gang which carried out raids on small banks in Scotland has been sent to prison for 18 years.

The judge, who also sentenced two accomplices of Mark Sinclair to five years each in prison, said they had caused "real terror" for members of staff and the public.

Sinclair had travelled over from his native Northern Ireland and targeted Clydebank branches in Troon, Stewarton and Dalbeattie.

The 33-year-old, who had three previous convictions for armed robbery, netted almost £13,000.

He was later arrested in Belfast by detectives investigating five raids, all at Clydesdale banks.

Sinclair, who had been found guilty of three robberies, but not guilty of a fourth at Newmilns, at an earlier hearing in Ayr, was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Friday.

In the dock with him were Robert Gibson, 27, from Drongan in Ayrshire, who admitted robbing £4,059 from the Dalbeattie bank along with Sinclair and Jason Peake, 22, from Anfield in Liverpool, who admitted robbing the Dalry branch of nearly £10,000.

It is not surprising from the evidence of a number of those involved that they have been quite seriously affected Lord Kingarth

Gibson and Peake each got five years in jail.

High Court judge Lord Kingarth told Sinclair: "You not only took part in but were the main instigator in a series of armed robberies in which you targeted small banks in the West of Scotland.

"You caused real terror for those in the premises, both members of staff and members of the public caught up in it.

"It is not surprising from the evidence of a number of those involved that they have been quite seriously affected."

Sinclair, who was the last to be sentenced, was then reminded by Lord Kingarth that he had three previous convictions for robbery, two in Belfast and one in Northampton.

Security services plant

Before announcing the 18-year jail term, the judge said: "In all these circumstances it is my duty to impose a sentence not only to reflect the gravity of the offences but to deter anyone else who might be tempted to do something similar."

During his three-week trial Sinclair claimed he had been planted in Scotland by the security services to spy on members of the loyalist terror group the Ulster Defence Association.

The judge told Gibson and Peake he accepted there was no evidence they belonged to any terrorist organisation and that they were not the instigators of the robberies.

Adrian Tonner, defending Gibson, said he bitterly regretted his involvement and had expressed genuine remorse.

QC Martin Jones defending Peake said he had travelled to Liverpool for a few days' holiday in a log cabin near Lochwinnoch with a third party and stupidly became involved when he was asked to take part on the eve of the Dalry robbery.