Colin and Dean McCaffrey, aged 24 and 22, were each jailed for 14 years at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting conspiracy to rob UK Bullion

Colin and Dean McCaffrey, aged 24 and 22, were each jailed for 14 years at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting conspiracy to rob UK Bullion on Ecclesall Road in July 2007.Now the pair – described as the ringleaders of the raid – have had their sentences slashed to 10 years each, meaning they will be automatically released after five years when they have served half of their term.Lord Justice Moses, sitting in London's Appeal Court with Mr Justice Pitchford and Mr Justice Griffith Williams, said the brothers had been involved in a "meticulously planned robbery" which had netted an enormous amount of jewellery.The brothers, from Manchester, were part of an organised crime gang which travelled from Manchester to stake out the jewellery store before ramming the shutters with a Toyota Corolla in broad daylight and reversing at speed.Wearing white boiler suits and balaclavas, they burst inside, wielding claw hammers, crow bars and an axe. They smashed all the display cabinets and snatched valuables from the safe.Some employees managed to flee upstairs but others were forced to lie on the floor throughout the terrifying ordeal and one female shop assistant was threatened with an axe.After ransacking the shop in just 60 seconds and stealing watches and diamonds, they sped away in a black Audi, then transferred to other vehicles.But witnesses saw the men passing the gems between vehicles and they were arrested in Manchester the following day.Colin and Dean, described in court as "ringleaders", were caught through a combination of forensic examination work, the monitoring of hours of CCTV footage, number plate recognition systems and mobile phone analysis.Almost the entire stock taken but only £127,000 worth of jewellery was recovered by police. They dropped some jewellery as they fled and earrings worth £6,000 were found in a raid on a house in Merseyside.Lord Justice Moses allowed the appeal which was made on the grounds insufficient credit had been given for the brothers' young age and guilty pleas.

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