Partners in life John Todd and Keely Beer became partners in crime when they decided to rob a security van filling a cash machine at a supermarket.

Todd, 45, used a stick as an imitation firearm to relieve a guard of £25,000, while 41-year-old Beer waited nearby in a Range Rover as the getaway driver.

But witnesses alerted the police, the car was traced and the pair were arrested.

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Now, Todd has been jailed for six years eight months and mother-of-four Beer for four years.

The drug addicts who met in rehab, of Firethorn Close, Gillingham, admitted robbery.

Beer received a lesser sentence after the prosecution accepted her claim she did not know an imitation firearm would be used.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the Loomis van was making a cash delivery at Asda in Maidstone Road, Chatham, on the morning of July 26 this year when Todd appeared with a scarf over his face.

Guard Barry Hatton saw that the robber had something in his hand and believed it as a pistol.

Prosecutor Iestyn Morgan said Mr Hatton realised he was about to be robbed and feared for his safety. Todd demanded: “Give me the box.”

Mr Hatton dropped the cashbox and Todd picked it up, pointing the imitation gun at the victim as he did so.

Todd fled to a cul-de-sac where Beer was waiting. The couple drove off but the car was picked up on automatic number plate recognition cameras.

The registration had been changed slightly, but it was discovered that Beer was the registered owner.

When police went to their home they found bank notes with blue dye on them that had been activated by Mr Hatton. A total of £22,370 was recovered.

Judge Philip Statman was told Beer had been given an inheritance and she and Todd blew £60,000 of it on drugs.

Passing sentence, the judge said: “The impact of this offence has been considerable on Mr Hatton. He has gone through the anguish of being robbed.

"It was good fortune he dropped the box and no physical violence was inflicted.”

He told Todd: “This was a joint enterprise to rob but your respective roles were very different. It is clear you were the principal. You recruited your partner to drive at short notice.

“You had an imitation firearm which you described as a lump of wood, but your victim was not to know that was the case. This was a pre-planned robbery which yielded rich pickings.”

He added: “One side of the coin indicates you were mutually supportive. The other side is you were mutually destructive.

Video: Police investigate the raid

"The fact you are both addicted to drugs is an explanation but can offer no mitigation for this crime.”

“The impact of this offence has been considerable on Mr Hatton. He has gone through the anguish of being robbed" - Judge Philip Statman

Beer had a grown-up son and three other children aged eight, 11 and 15, who were being looked after by her mother in her two-bedroom flat.

Judge Statman told Beer: “Believe me when I say to you one of the most difficult tasks a judge had to perform is to send a mother of their comparatively young children to prison.

“They have had to learn to accommodate in their lives your drug addiction which cannot have been easy for them. They now face separation from you.”