Paul Doyle, aged 41, has been handed a 24-year prison sentence after being found guilty of robbery, kidnapping and possession of an imitation firearm intending to cause fear of violence. He admitted counts of robbery, conspiracy to rob, conspiracy to steal, possession of an imitation firearm intending to cause fear of violence and conspiracy to possess an imitation firearm intending to rob. Doyle influenced two impressionable men to join with him in carrying out violent carjackings in Birmingham, West Midlands while armed with imitation firearms, hammers and knives. They typically targeted vulnerable women in high-end cars, stealing £750,000 worth of vehicles. Doyle’s co-conspirators, Joshua Barrett, Luke Mander, were jailed for eighteen years and sixteen-and-a-half years respectively for charges including robbery and possession of an imitation firearm intending to cause fear of violence. A third man, Keir Carter, was involved to a lesser extent and received three years for burglary as well as drugs and other offences. Doyle, Barrett and Mander also robbed a shop and stole £2,000 worth of alcohol and cigarettes after threatening the shopkeeper with an imitation gun and pointing it at her husband’s head when he tried to intervene. Other offences included stealing from motorhomes at a motorbike convention and kidnapping the driver of a pickup truck in order to steal a car they had previously taken. Some of the gang’s victims made statements detailing the psychological harm sustained during the attacks and the judge said: “All of your victims have suffered financial loss and inconvenience. Many victims are now anxious, nervous and have had to change their behaviour as a result of your attacks on them.”