MEMBERS of one of Britain's biggest networks of armed robbery gangs, including Bournemouth man Anthony Bado, have been jailed for 140 years between them.

The 17 raiders - dubbed the men in white because they wore boiler suits to carry out their raids - were among 30 career criminals being sentenced for their roles in raids that netted watches and jewellery worth more than £3.5 million.

The five masterminds behind the plan were James Stewart, 28, brothers Billy, 28, and Danny Johnson, 29, John Chambers, 35, and Anthony Bado, 28 of St Clements Road, Boscombe.

The crooks were so prolific they struck every fortnight for 16 months as they targeted shops across southern England. Their biggest haul came from Michael Matthews jewellery shop in Westover Road, Bournemouth, which was hit twice - the first netting £600,000 and the second £1m.

Gangs of three or four men dressed in white overalls and balaclavas and used sledgehammers and axes to smash their way into jewellery shops.

During some of the raids the thieves armed themselves with knives, a gun, a hammer, CS spray and a Taser stun gun.

Kingston Crown Court was told 34 raids were carried out across southern England, London, the West Country and East Anglia between January 2008 and May 2009.

On one occasion a gang travelled to Antwerp to commit a robbery during which they fired CS spray at passers-by and the shopkeeper.

They targeted motorcycle dealerships, tying up staff and loading motorcycles into stolen vans before using the machines as getaway vehicles.

Detective Inspector Jason Prins, of the Met's Flying Squad, said: "We targeted these violent individuals who have shown they were prepared to use significant force to steal large quantities of jewellery.

"The incidents were terrifying for the staff members and their customers who were caught up in them. It is our duty to protect people from this level of violence.

"These defendants operated as an organised criminal network, meticulously planning and carrying out the most brazen daylight raids.

"The sentences demonstrate our commitment to deal with violent and organised crime in our communities and sends out a strong message that this type of criminal behaviour will not be tolerated."

Flying Squad officers were first alerted to the linked raids in January 2009.

They discovered ringleaders would select jewellery shops, conducting reconnaissance missions before purchasing equipment and weapons.

These men would then recruit criminal associates based in south-east London to commit the robberies.

The network began to unravel on March 31, 2009, when five men were arrested while raiding Mappin & Webb jewellers in Guildford.

A police officer videoed two men wearing white overalls smashing the windows of the store with sledgehammers as colleagues pulled up to catch them.

A second undercover operation on May 18, 2009, led to the arrest of four more men as they prepared to raid David Dudley jewellers in Marlborough.

Stewart, Bado, Chambers and Billy and Danny Johnson were convicted of carrying out 18 conspiracies to commit robbery and 16 counts of conspiracy to burgle.

Stewart, of Maidstone, was jailed for 14 years; Bado, of Bournemouth, was jailed for 12 years; Chambers, of Bromley, was jailed for nine years and nine months; Billy Johnson, of Peckham, was jailed for 10 years and eight months and his brother Danny, also of Peckham, was jailed for 11 years and four months.

Others jailed today were men aged between 20 and 50 from Eltham, East Dulwich, New Cross, Brockley, Forest Hill, Nunhead and Greenwich.

They were imprisoned for between four-and-a-half-years and 15 years.

One man received 17 months in a young offenders institution.

The gangs targeted shops in Windsor, Eastbourne, Southampton, Maidstone, Kensington, Bournemouth, Richmond, Bristol, Plymouth, St Albans, Tadley, Sittingbourne, Southend, Brighton, Wimbledon, Chichester, Worthing, Dorking, Rickmansworth, Bury St Edmunds and Nantwich.