A GANG who brutally terrorised a string of wealthy families to steal more than £700,000 in luxury cars and valuables are behind bars.

The organised six-strong group were jailed for a total of nearly 38 years for the series of terrifying night time raids.

Over more than a year they targeted a series of expensive houses with guns, machetes and knives to steal the owner’s exclusive cars.

In many cases the raids involved savagely attacking the owners, even tying them up at gunpoint.

In one attack, victim Michael Hide was woken with a pillow over his face to be surrounded by four masked raiders.

He was forced to listen to his wife's screams as she was stripped of jewellery, before their £30,000 Audi was taken.

Jailing the gang, Judge Robert Warnock said: "By any standard of human decency, the victims in this case must have been deeply traumatised. You showed no shred of remorse stealing both sentimental and valuable items."

Graham Pickavance, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court the gang carried out the string of raids all within 75 miles of Liverpool between October 1, 2007, and December 21, 2008. He said: "These involved night-time forced entries and confrontations with and assaults upon the occupants, damage to property and the theft of high value motor cars."

In the gang's fifth raid on December 24, 2007, the balaclava-clad raiders burst into a home on Helens Road, Rainford, and attacked the householder with an iron bar.

The family's Bentley, worth £100,000 was taken, as well £10,000 in cash.

In a further attack on January 8, 2008, a couple were held at knife-point while the gang raided the house.