An armed robber has been jailed for six years for a terrifying raid on a Maldon holiday park.

James Sheedy was part of a gang who armed themselves with machetes and a handgun when they burst into the Steeple Bay camp last summer.

Staff were manhandled and handcuffed before the robbers got away with £5,000.

But Chelmsford Crown Court heard how the robbers left a "treasure trove of clues" at the scene and two of them were arrested soon afterwards.

Sheedy, 38, from Rose Terrace, Camberwell, London, disappeared but after the robbery was featured on the Crimewatch programme, he walked into Chelmsford police station with his solicitor.

He admitted a robbery charge when he appeared in court for sentence. Two other men involved received nine years each after they were convicted at a trial.

The court heard manager Russel Mills and two other staff were confronted with an automatic pistol and machetes after the robbers burst into the clubhouse at the Haven holiday park on August 31 last year.

Staff were handcuffed before the robbers - dressed in Army-style combat gear - escaped with £5,000 from a safe.

But the court heard they left numerous clues, including a Honda Civic which had crashed into a ditch and Sheedy's Honda motor bike, which had been fitted with false plates.

DNA evidence found on balaclavas left at the scene was tested and the court heard how tests linked Sheedy to the robbery. The chances of the DNA belonging to anyone else were one thousand million to one, Rowland Hardy, prosecuting, said. Sheedy's prints were also found on the bike's false number plate.

Brenton Mitchell, mitigating, said the leader of the robbers was a man known as "Fat Barry" who has never been caught.

Sheedy's role was to take one of the men from the scene on his bike afterwards, Mr Mitchell said.

Once the robbery had been featured on Crimewatch, Sheedy decided to give himself up, he added.

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