A gang of travelling thieves are facing jail after being convicted of a £300,000 jewellery heist in Newcastle.

Usman Khan led the sophisticated criminal gang in a plot to rob Sunny Jewellers on Tamworth Road in the west end of the city.

A court was told how his band of thieves travelled from the North West to carry out surveillance on the shop in Spring this year.

Khan and his followers eventually sprang into action on May 16 this year in a smash and grab that lasted less than 50 seconds.

CCTV shown in court showed the moment gang member Ali Askhor, 19, posed as an innocent customer to gain entry to the jewellers.

The footage showed a staff member unlock the door at which point the rest of the gang burst into the shop wearing balaclavas, gloves and carrying hammers.

A jury was told how it was Usman Khan, 20, Shahzad Farooq, 21, and an unidentified third man who carried out the robbery.

They smashed the display cabinets with their weapons and stole jewellery estimated to be worth a staggering £300,000.

Smoke alarms in the shop were activated before the men fled the scene in a black Audi S5, leaving staff badly shaken but thankfully uninjured.

Detectives launched an investigation but they were dealt a blow when they discovered the gang had switched cars minutes after the robbery.

However, the breakthrough came two days later when officers received a call to say a vehicle had been dumped in a street in Oldham.

Enquiries identified the vehicle as the one involved in the heist and within days the main suspects had been identified.

Prosecutors told a court how mobile phone data proved it was Samantha Farrell-Blake, 44, who had acted as the getaway driver following the robbery.

The court was told how police suspected Shah Almaruf, 19, then drove back to Newcastle in the days after the incident to collect the abandoned Audi.

The five suspects, who all lived in Oldham and Birmingham, were arrested and later charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.

Khan, Almaruf and Askhor admitted their part in the heist but Farrell-Blake and Farooq denied any involvement.

But on Wednesday (December 12) the pair were also found guilty of conspiracy to robbery at Manchester Crown Court. Now all five will be sentenced at the same court in February.

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