One of the men who organised a botched armed raid on a house is fighting a deadly illness, a judge has heard.

John Moys was a member of the gang which used a fake police car and an imitation sawn-off shotgun to force their way into the house in Sevenoaks.

But now Maidstone Crown Court has heard how he is suffering from a form of Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

CCTV footage of the botched raid

Judge Julian Smith was told that the illness had been diagnosed prior to the raid in May 2017 but had become more serious since his arrest and remand to Elmley Prison.

He told Moys, of Old Trees Hoath, Canterbury that he might have received a larger reduction in his sentence if the diagnosis had been made after the arrest when he could have claimed that knowledge of the illness might have caused him to reflect on his participation in the violent raid.

Moys, who admitted his part in the attack, was jailed for 10 years - two other gang members received sentences of 17 years and 14-and-a-half years.

Four masked men, and a fifth wearing a police uniform and fluorescent jacket, took part in the raid at a home of a city fund manager in Wildernesse Avenue on May Day Bank Holiday.

The gang planned to rob the “substantial” family home by sticking a ‘police’ sign on a private ambulance and pretending they had been called to a disturbance.

Two of the gang arrived in the vehicle at the Hogh family just before 10pm on May Day, wearing high-visibility jackets and told the occupants through the intercom that they were investigating a disturbance

But as soon as the family opened the electric gates four masked accomplices jumped out from an alley, wearing balaclavas and armed with what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how the men forced their way inside the house but the mother managed to activate a panic alarm to alert police and the group of men fled 42 seconds later empty-handed.

The Skoda Octavia ambulance used in the raid was later found burnt out in Nottinghamshire.

Nicholas Hamill, 35, and Joseph Mezen, 28, both from Herne Bay, were found guilty of conspiracy to rob and possession of an imitation firearm.

Moys, 46, pleaded guilty to the same charges. Ronnie Mead, 30, from Dover, admitted assisting an offender in relation to the disposal of the vehicle.

Hamill, of Carlton Hill, was sentenced to 14-and-a-half years in prison while Mezen, of Town Court Close, was jailed for 14 years with a further three years on licence. Mead, of Randolph Road, was jailed for two years and 10 months.

Malcolm Maxted, 45, of Daiglen Drive, South Ockendon, Essex, was cleared of conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.

Christopher Wray, defending Moys, said hospital tests painted a 'bleak picture' and doctors are not sure yet whether his treatment will be effective.

"This is not curable and will eventually take his life," he added.

Judge Smith said what the gang had done had terrified the family - and the trauma had a "significant impact" on them.

Moys wrote a letter to the judge which wasn't "self-pitying or pleading for himself but talked about his "shame and disgust".

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