Three Birmingham men have been sentenced for their part in a series of armed robberies in which jewellery with a market value of up to £1.5m was stolen.
The men were part of a gang which carried out a string of "ruthless" robberies across the country between November 2005 and May 2007.
Elliott Burton, of South Acre Avenue, Highgate, who absconded during his trial at Birmingham Crown Court, was sentenced in his absence.
Burton, 38, used the death of his partner's relative to persuade Judge Trevor Faber to excuse him on the penultimate day of his trial in April. He did not return the following day, as instructed, and has been at large ever since.
At the same court, Judge Faber sentenced Burton to 12 years for conspiracy to rob, and ordered his parents to pay £1,000 of a £10,000 bail surety.
Simon Waller, 29, of Outwood Drive, Rubery, was sentenced to nine years for conspiracy to rob after pleading guilty to his part in the raids in March. The judge told him his sentence would have been 12 years, but he was awarded a 25 per cent discount for his guilty plea.
Charles Gabb, prosecuting, described Waller as the "armourer of the gang" and said a replica revolver, a replica pistol and 10 blank rounds of ammunition were recovered from his home on the day of his arrest in May last year.
Luke Nash, of Newlyn Road, Northfield, was sentenced to seven years after he was found guilty of involvement in one of the gang's robberies.
The 26-year-old, described as "the bag carrier", was also found guilty of possessing an imitation firearm during the raid at Jeremy France jewellers in Winchester.
The court heard that the gang carried out nine raids at locations across the country, focusing on upmarket jewellers and mainly stealing designer watches. Prosecutors said the raids netted the gang jewellery to the value of between £1m and £1.5m but just £70,000-worth of that jewellery has been recovered
