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GANG MEMBERS JAILED

VICIOUS gang members who terrorised residents in their own homes have been jailed for a total of 45 years.
In one raid, the masked thugs injured two children with broken glass as they smashed their way into a home. They then threatened their mother with a double barrel shotgun which was later fired.
In another raid, they dragged a young girl around her house by her hair, and knocked her unconscious whilst dragging her up the stairs.
And in a third, a man was repeatedly stabbed in the legs and he stumbled upstairs to find valuables for his tormentors.
Jamie Atkins, 19, of no fixed abode; Gary Hooper, 21, from Wigan; Craig Andrews, 20, from Rainford; Jon Nee, 17, from Billinge; and Carl Davis, 22, from Winstanley, all pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit burglary and aggravated burglary.
A sixth defendant, Gary Hooper’s brother Mark, 24, was jailed for a year for perverting the course of justice. In total, they all admitted to 22 raids during a 3 month period, with 13 of the raids situated in Rainford.
In most cases, the gang were armed with machetes, knives, shotguns, axes and hammers, and were responsible for stealing just over £400,000 worth of property.
Among the most shocking of incidents was a break-in at a family home in Derby Drive, Rainford, on the early evening of November 22, 2010.
The gang forced their way in by shattering the glass of the patio door, and using the glass to threaten two children, 8 and 12.
One of the men then pointed a double barrel shotgun at the mother of the house, demanding she handed over the keys to her Porsche or they would “blast” her in the head in front of her children.

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