Brutal York gang jailed - sentences total 47½ years - They twice stormed house with meat cleaver, held up shop at knifepoint and raided chippy and dying woman's home

Between them, they terrorised students with a meat cleaver and other weapons, raided the home of a dying cancer patient in her seventies and held up staff at a York shop at knifepoint.

Two of the offenders had nearly 50 previous convictions. Although the men were sentenced in December, their cases can only now be reported, following the conclusion of a separate trial.

The shop where the knifepoint robbery happened

Four of the men, Sean Robert Barker, 28, Marley Joseph Ward, 24, Jake Leon Nolan, 19, and Joseph Mark Mullen, 20, were part of a gang that broke into a student house in Wellington Street off Heslington Road twice in three days in early November 2013, armed with a meat cleaver, metal pipes and other weapons, said Peter Sabiston, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

They assaulted and threatened the young people inside, forcing them to hand over their computers, electronic equipment and money.

The students feared retribution if they went to the police so kept quiet, only for Barker, who had the meat cleaver, to return with other men to repeat their ordeal.

The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, said Barker heard the students had not told the police about the first raid and therefore thought they had been "sufficiently softened up".

During the two raids, some of the students were hit and others were woken by the raiders. All were masked apart from Mullen, 20, who knew some of the victims and who accused them of taking money from a nearby shop.

Another of the gang, Marley Joseph Ward, teamed up with two more men for a series of night raids on November 26, including one at the home of a woman in her seventies terminally ill of cancer, Mr Sabiston told the court. The victim died a few weeks later.

Raids that night also included one at the Thompson's fish and chip restaurant on the A64, between York and Malton, and others at properties in Alne and Easingwold.

The daughter of the woman who died told York Crown Court her mother had wanted to spend her last days in her home for more than 20 years where she felt safe, but the burglars had destroyed her security.

"She was at home and knew something had happened," said the daughter. "We had to tell her and it was really upsetting. She was very troubled by what had happened and had lots of questions we could not answer. It was on her mind in the final weeks."

Judge Ashurst said: "The impact on this case has been traumatic. It is disgraceful that a lady in her seventies spent her last few weeks with the knowledge that her home had been invaded."

With him on the three raids was Jordan Thomas Both, 28, who went on to commit a burglary alone, during which he was confronted by his victims and threatened to stab one of them before fleeing.

Following the burglaries, Ward was charged with an unconnected knifepoint mugging and remanded in custody, said Mr Sabiston. From behind bars, he put pressure through a third party on the alleged robbery victim to drop the case. He was acquitted when the complainant did not attend court to give evidence.

Nolan, a fourth member of gang that terrorised the students, teamed up with an unknown accomplice to stage a knifepoint robbery on the McColl's shop in Crichton Avenue, Clifton. Two staff were asked "What is worth more, someone else's money or your life?" One of the shopworkers couldn't stop shaking after the robbers left.

Judge Ashurst said: "This was truly an attack upon the community. People who work in shops like this don't deserve to be threatened by people like you coming in armed with weapons in the way you did."

• Marley Joseph Ward, of no fixed address, had nearly 50 previous convictions. Judge Ashurst said he "didn't take a blind bit of notice of court orders". He was jailed for 14 years for one aggravated burglary, the burglary at the old woman's house and two more burglaries and perverting the course of justice. His barrister Alex Menary said he planned to leave York on release and wants to put his skills to better use than crime.
• Sean Robert Barker, no fixed address, is a career burglar who has served several prison sentences. He was jailed for 12 years for both aggravated burglaries on the students. His barrister Matthew Harding said there was very little mitigation he could give.
• Jake Leon Nolan, of Cromer Street, Clifton, was jailed for 12 years for one aggravated burglary, the shop robbery and possession of a knife. Matthew Harding said he was still young and had few convictions and hoped to work in information technology.
• Jordan Thomas Both, of St Phillips Grove, Clifton, who had nearly 50 convictions, was jailed for six and a half years for the burglary at the old woman's house and three more burglaries, handling stolen goods and failure to attend court. His barrister Taryn Turner said he wanted to write an apology to the victims of his crimes.
• Joseph Mark Mullen, 20, a car mechanic and valet, of Key Way, Fulford, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for three years for one aggravated burglary. His barrister Andrew Semple said he had fallen in with the wrong crowd and had only known Nolan among his co-defendants. He had not been armed and when the other members of the gang arrived realised he was in over his head.

Mohammad Louqman Dad, 24, of Sandhurst Place, Leeds, was charged with being the getaway driver for the three raids on November 26, but was acquitted of all three burglaries when his trial at York Crown Court ended on Friday.

All the defendants admitted the charges they were sentenced for, apart from Ward, who denied being part of the aggravated burglary of the students but was convicted by a York jury last August.