An art robber who tied up gallery staff before stealing £700,000-worth of paintings has been jailed for 14 years.

Craig Townend also held at gunpoint employees at York City Art Gallery as he took the 20 precious works of art.

He was caught by police only when he booked a conference room at a hotel to sell the paintings.

Judge Tom Cracknell, who described Townend as "ruthless" and "dangerous" sentenced him to 14 years for robbery.

York Crown Court heard that in January last year, Townend, 29, of Rawmarsh, Rotherham, South Yorkshire,and another masked raider tied up staff at the art gallery and ripped the 20 paintings from their frames.

Many of the works were from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

They also included an early Turner watercolour entitled Rievaulx Abbey.

Four months later, police were waiting as Townend tried to set up a sale of paintings in a Rotherham hotel.

Magna Carta claim

Eighteen of the paintings were found in the boot of a car owned by Townend's stepfather, William Spence.

The other two paintings were found in Townend's bedroom wrapped in plastic bin liners.

Mr Spence, 49, also of Rawmarsh, was cleared of handling stolen goods. He told the court he had no idea the stolen paintings were in his car.

Townend had denied the robbery, claiming he was involved in the international disposal of "hot" antiques.

He said he had been offered two pictures painted by Rubens and another work by Rembrandt, worth £10m, and said he could also obtain one of the surviving copies of Magna Carta.

Townend also claimed he had been involved in the sale of four Edgar Hunt paintings, for which he received £10,000, and a Faberge clock which had been stolen from the Yorkshire home of Judge James Pickles.

At the end of a two-week trial, the jury found Townend guilty of robbery.

He was also found guilty of possessing a firearm, for which he was jailed for one year to run consecutively.

Judge Cracknell said: "This was a quite outrageous offence.

"You and your accomplice decided to attack an art gallery and went in armed with a sawn-off shotgun and pistol. You attacked vulnerable attendants who were humiliated and terrified.

"It was a ruthless robbery and quite appalling. You tied and bound your victims.

"You got away with some extremely valuable paintings and fortunately they were recovered. You are a bit of a fantasist and you put your fantasies into reality. You are a very dangerous man.

"You played for high stakes - you lost."

At the beginning of the trial, Phillip Pickard, 34, of Wheatley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was found not guilty of robbery and possession of a firearm, on the judge's directions.

He admitted handling stolen goods and will be sentenced at a later date.