Five men who carried out a ram-raid on Mercedes-Benz World days before Christmas and made off with £51,650 were today sentenced to prison.

Surrey Comet:

Smash-and-grab: The entrance to Mercedes-Benz World

The raid took place on December 15, at about 11.30pm. Security guards were reported to have been threatened by the intruders but not injured.

December 16 2014: Pick-up truck used to 'ram-raid' luxury car showroom Mercedes-Benz World

The balaclava-wearing group, made up of as many as seven who have not all been caught, sprayed security guards with something described as like pepper spray or tear gas and used a pick-up truck to ram through the entrance of the Weybridge showroom and rip a cash machine free before they loaded it on to the vehicle.

Surrey Comet:

They drove off, stopping briefly when the cash machine fell off, and were chased by Surrey Police to the Manor Road area of Wokingham, Berkshire.

During the chase, another car joined the first, with a passenger leaning out of it as it pulled up alongside the police car to smash the window with a crowbar.

At one point, a car stopped with a passenger getting out to rummage for something in the boot.

Police feared it could be a weapon and so accelerated forward, causing the person to drop the item and get back into the car before it again sped off.

Scott Liddiard, 36, of Moors Avenue, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, John Cooper, 43, of London Road, Ruscombe, Reading, Jimmy Loveridge, 23, of Chertsey Road, Chobham, and Benjamin Eastwood, 22, of Stock Lane, Ingatestone, Essex, all pleaded guilty at Guildford Crown Court on Friday, April 17.

Clinton Bowen, 33, of Caledonian Road, Matson, Gloucestershire, applied for the charge against him to be dismissed on the same date, but later pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit burglary with intent to steal at the same court on May 13.

April 17: Four plead guilty to Mercedes-Benz World ram raid, one applies for case to be dismissed

Prosecuting, Rossana Scamardella, told the court of the five men’s previous brushes with the law.

Of Liddiard, he mentioned 33 convictions and 74 offences, involving burglary and vehicle taking.

Loveridge has five convictions and had committed seven offences.

Eastwood has not previously been convicted but had been given a reprimand.

Cooper had seven convictions for 12 offences, involving theft.

Bowen, who featured on Crimewatch when he was eight-years-old, has had 21 convictions and committed 33 offences.

Judge Cristopher Critchlow told the group what they had committed was a "serious crime" and the sentencing reflected that.

Cooper was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

Loveridge and Liddiard were sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment.

Bowen was sentenced to four years and eight months' imprisonment. Eastwood, the youngest of the five, was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years.

All were given credit for their early guilty pleas.

Footage from a camera mounted in the chasing police car was shown to the court during the sentencing at Guildford Crown Court today.

During the car chase, which reached speeds of up 100mph, one of the getaway vehicles nearly collided with an oncoming car as it approached a roundabout.

The footage also capture the moment one of the escaping cars reversed into the police car at such speed the camera was dislodged from its position.

The cash machine has since been recovered but the cars used in the chase have not.

About 40 family members and friends filled the public gallery as the defendants were sentenced.