Armed raiders jailed after trial without jury

The leader of an armed robbery gang has learned that he is likely to die in jail after being convicted by a judge in an historic trial without a jury.

Career criminal John Twomey, 62, was sentenced to 20 years and six months for leading a £1.75 million raid on a Heathrow warehouse in February 2004. Tattooed Twomey wiped away tears and waved to a woman who wept in the public gallery as he was taken down to begin his sentence.

Fellow robber Peter Blake was jailed for life with a minimum term of ten years and nine months by Mr Justice Treacy at the Old Bailey. Twomey's brother-in-law, Glenn Cameron, 50, and QPR football thug Barry Hibberd, 43, who also took part, were sentenced to 15 years and 17 years and six months respectively.

New laws meant the trial could be heard by a judge alone after the Court of Appeal ruled there was a serious danger that a jury could be nobbled. It was the first serious criminal trial to be held without a jury in England and Wales.

Ringleader Twomey has already faced three trials over the robbery but evaded justice thanks to a heart attack in the first and a hung jury in the second.

A third attempt ground to halt over claims of jury tampering and the Court of Appeal ordered a trial by a judge alone.