An armed robber has been jailed for 15 years for a £100,000 raid on security guards making a supermarket cash machine delivery.

A judge said Stephen Dalligan had put the guards in fear of their lives when brandishing an imitation gun at Asda in Sittingbourne.

Judge Philip Statman added: "It is clear to me you are prepared to take great risks in order to sustain a lifestyle which would not be available to you otherwise."

Dalligan, of Kingshall Road, Beckenham, was last month convicted of robbery, possessing an imitation firearm, false imprisonment and concealing criminal property.

Chloe Brown, of Lee, south east London, denied aiding and abetting Dalligan in the robbery and firearm charges and was acquitted of both.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Miss Brown, 23, had been 48-year-old Dalligan’s companion in the months leading up to the robbery.

Two weeks before the raid on May 13, the couple stayed at a rented a chalet at Harts Holiday Village in Leysdown. Dalligan grew a beard as a disguise.

Dalligan bought the BB handgun for £69.99 from Goldings Army surplus store in Canterbury.

Because he did not have any identification, Miss Brown produced a box of anti-biotic tablets with her name on them.

Guards Christopher Hanmore and David Finnegan, who work for Loomis, were loading the money into the machine when Dalligan pounced.

Wearing a crash helmet, he pointed the gun at Mr Finnegan and then forced Mr Hanmore to open the door to the ATM.

Dalligan afterwards bought a BMW X5 car for £14,000 in cash. Officers searched Dalligan’s bedroom at his mother’s home and found £49,000 in a shoe box.

Sheilagh Davies, defending, said Dalligan maintained the robbery was an inside job.

He had previously served six years and nine years imprisonment for drug offences, but had no previous convictions for robbery, said Miss Davies.

Judge Statman said the raid was sophisticated and carefully planned and Dalligan knew the financial gain would be considerable.