A two-man robbery team, including one man who stole close to £100,000 in a series of armed robberies, has been jailed for a total of 16 years.

Belfast Crown Court heard that Michael Andrew Patrick Nolan (34) committed five robberies and two attempted robberies, while his accomplice Patrick Shannon (39) joined him in two of the robberies on January 5, 2008.

Prosecuting lawyer Ian Tannahill told the court in the robberies where the pair were jointly charged, a cash delivery guard was taking a cash box from Iceland on Belfast's York Road when he was threatened by a gun-wielding male.

Staff who tried to intervene were threatened with being shot and the pair got away with £15,000, but were later identified from DNA profiles.

The other robbery which the pair committed was on June 12, 2008 as a cash delivery guard was taking cash to an ATM at the Abbeycentre in Newtownabbey, but the stolen cash box was empty.

Turning to robberies which only Nolan was charged with, Mr Tannahill said they included robberies at Homebase at Upper Galwally, two Lidl supermarkets in Ballymoney and Magherafelt, and a JJB outlet in Belfast.

After the Magherafelt robbery on August 3 last year police chased Nolan in a stolen car for 45 miles through Draperstown, Maghera and Tobermore.

Nolan, who is from University Street in Belfast and has over 100 convictions, pleaded guilty to five robberies and two attempted robberies. Shannon, from Velsheda Court, also in the city, pleaded guilty to two robberies.

Mr Tannahill revealed £85,000 was stolen but only £30,000 was recovered, describing the pair as “constituting a robbery team”.

Judge Kennedy jailed Nolan for nine years and Shannon for seven years.