A CROOK who made off with tens of thousands of pounds'worth of gems in a smash-and-grab raid at a Fareham jewellers has been jailed for two years.

In what the judge called a deliberate and cold-blooded act, Sean Russell bagged diamond rings, earrings and necklaces worth £64,000.

Russell, 42, targeted Ernest Jones in Thackery Mall, West Street, in a night-time raid, kicking in the door and snatching a stash of diamonds.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how Russell, from London, stole the large amount of jewellery in the early hours of November 20 but then voluntarily gave himself up to the police weeks later.

By this time though all the jewellery had already been sold and Russell told police he had no idea where the stash was or why he committed the crime.

The court heard how Russell has a string of previous convictions relating to robbery and burglary going back as far as 1982, the last resulting in a five-year prison sentence in 2000.

However, since leaving prison he had sought the help of drug and alcohol specialists Phoenix Futures and had become a "shining light" for the project.

Judge Graham White told Russell that due to the high value of jewellery stolen only a prison sentence was appropriate and that people must know that robberies in a jewellers when large amounts are stolen will inevitably lead to prison.

He said: "This was a deliberate and cold blooded act in stealing from a vulnerable shop and I really am afraid I cannot overlook that fact.

"It must be regarded by all right thinking members of the public as an extremely serious offence, so serious that a custodial sentence is the only sentence appropriate."