Two men have been jailed for two holding up two Brighton bookmakers at gunpoint.
Jamie Casaletto, 33, of Colgate Close, Whitehawk, and John Clugston, 27, of Egmont Road, Hove, were sentenced at Lewes Crown Court, having pleaded guilty to the two armed robberies.
Casaletto – also known as Billy Caseletto – was jailed for 11 years and will have to serve at least eight years before being eligible to apply for parole.
Clugston was jailed for 14 years and will have to serve a minimum of ten years.
They robbed the Ladbrokes branch in The Broadway, Whitehawk, at 9.15pm on Sunday 7 August.
One of them was armed with a handgun when they demanded cash from the staff. They escaped with £2,800 from the safe and the tills. No one was hurt.
Two days later, on Tuesday 9 August, they went to the Ladbrokes in St George’s Road, Kemp Town, at 7.20pm.
One was again armed with a handgun and the other had a knife. They demanded cash from the cashier and made off with more than £1,000 cash.
No shots were fired in either incident.
The pair were arrested in Brighton on Wednesday 10 August after inquiries by local officers – and the gun was recovered.
Detective Constable Steve Amner said: “Staff at both shops were put in fear and considerably shaken though unhurt.
“Thanks to CCTV and our local officers in East Brighton, the pair were swiftly identified and arrested.”
