Two men who used axes to smash their way into a small shop and demand money after holding up staff members have been jailed.
Adam Merkitt, 36, and Andrew Bluck, 37, were wielding axes as they stormed a high street shop in Buckden, Cambridgeshire, stealing £4,000 in the process.
Wearing black balaclavas, the two thugs grabbed four staff members and forced the manager to open the shop’s safe.
After fleeing the scene in a silver car, the pair were later traced to an address in Northampton hotel, after a member of the public spotted them travelling together.
A court revealed that cash-strapped Merkitt and Bluck were involved in another shop robbery in Eaton Soccon, St Neots hours earlier – having stolen lottery tickets and a till.
Adam Merkitt and Andrew Bluck used axes to steal £4,000 and hold up members of staff in a shop in Hunts End, Cambridgeshire (pictured)
Pictured is Adam Merkitt, 36, of Great Paxton, Cambs, who was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison at Peterborough Crown Court
Andrew Bluck, 37, of HMP Peterborough, (above) admitted to burglary and two counts of robbery, and was sentenced to three years and 10 months
Footage captured in St Neots shortly after 6am on November 9, 2019, shows the two men, wearing balaclavas and armed with an axe, rounding members of staff into a back office.
All four staff members were taken around to the back of the shop, where the manager was forced to open the safe.
A fifth member of staff, who was in a different room at the time they entered, escaped outside and called police.
Merkitt, of Great Paxton, Cambridgeshire, and Bluck, of HMP Peterborough, then made off in a silver car, with around £4,000 in cash.
The pair were later tracked down to a hotel in Northampton after a member of the public provided a picture of the vehicle they were travelling in.
And it emerged that just five hours before the robbery, Merkitt and Bluck had smashed their way into another store, in Hunts End, seven miles north of Eaton Socon, St Neots.
They had there attempted to make off with lottery tickets and the till.
Officers investigating were able to match clothing found in the hotel with CCTV images from the robbery.
The men were wearing balaclavas and wielding axes when a CCTV camera captured them storming a store in Hunts End, Cambridgeshire
They also found receipts which led them to a sports shop they went to after the robbery, where they could be seen on CCTV wearing the clothing.
The pair were jailed on Wednesday, May 5 after both pleaded guilty at Peterborough Crown Court.
Merkitt pleaded guilty to robbery, burglary and theft of a motor vehicle, and was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison.
Bluck admitted to burglary and two counts of robbery, and was sentenced to three years and 10 months.
Cambs Police said that the cash-strapped pair were ‘desperate for money’, which led them to use axes (shown) to threaten staff members at the shop
Detective Constable Kellymarie Harman, who investigated, said: ‘Merkitt and Bluck were so desperate for money that they were willing to go to extreme lengths to get it.
‘This was a terrifying ordeal for all of the staff involved and it was lucky that no one was seriously harmed.
‘I’d like to thank the staff for their support during the investigation and I hope they find satisfaction in the knowledge that this pair are going to be in prison for a long time.’