Gang who attacked couple in their shop and escaped with just a LUNCH BOX

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Qasim Hussain (left) and Hassan Mahmood (right) were both jailed for nine years

The husband and wife were closing for the night when the robbers raided them.

They punched the husband in the face before the balaclava-clad trio fled with bags and a box they thought contained valuables.

Leeds Crown Court heard the robbers, who included the son of a university academic, believed the couple were carrying high value jewellery.

But in fact they had snatched groceries and a lunch box from the shop in Roundhay, Leeds.

Jailing the gang, Judge Tom Bayliss said: "The inference I draw is that you were targeting what you thought to be very high value, easily saleable jewellery.

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Accomplice Naheem Hussain who is virtually blind, was jailed for three years

In the event you came away with virtually nothing but Tupperware and sandwiches

Tom Bayliss

"That, gentlemen, is what you were expecting.

"In the event you came away with virtually nothing but Tupperware and sandwiches.

"It was a professionally planned, commercial robbery carried out with a degree of sophistication but ultimately gaining you nothing but your convictions."

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Hassan Mahmood was found guilty of robbery, assault with intent to rob and theft

Qasim Hussain, 28, of Bradford, and Hassan Mahmood, 26, of Leeds, were both jailed for nine years after being found guilty of robbery, assault with intent to rob and theft following a trial this week.

Accomplice Naheem Hussain, 27, of Bradford, who is virtually blind, was jailed for three years.

A jury earlier heard how the trio stole a car in Halifax two days before the robbery in October 2015.

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Qasim Hussain was jailed following a trial this week

The Mitsubishi Pajero was caught on CCTV a day before the attack as the men checked out their intended target.

Mahmood, a medical sciences student and the son of a Leeds University lecturer, provided the balaclavas and arranged for the vehicle and other evidence to be torched after the raid.

The court heard they set fire to the car near to Roundhay Park but residents alerted the fire brigade who managed to put out the blaze and recover the balaclavas, which contained the defendants' DNA.

After the sentencing on Thursday, Detective Inspector Neil Thompson, of West Yorkshire Police, said: "This was a carefully planned and orchestrated robbery which saw the victims put through a terrifying ordeal when they were attacked by these men as they left their business."