MEMBERS of a teenage gang who hijacked a car and carried out a string of eight terrifying knifepoint robberies in a single evening have been jailed.

Between September and November 2018 19-year-old Abdullah Chaudhry from Prestwich and two boys aged 16 and 17 from Cheetham Hill, who cannot be named for legal reasons, terrorised the borough, and were involved in a spate of crimes.

However the gang, described as " as foolish as they were menacing", left police a trail of evidence leading officers right to them.

The first robbery saw the gang stop the driver of a green Vauxhall Corsa at the junction Albert Street and Rochdale Road, in Bury, before a gang member reached in through the window and took the keys.

Three men then got into the back of the car and held a six-inch knife to driver's head and threatened to kill him.

The car later stopped in Simister after the key snapped in the ignition.

However after being confronted by a member of the public, who saw the car's driver in distress, the gang drove off in the stolen car ­— which was later recovered by police.

On November 18 the gang carried out a robbery in Whitefield when a car containing the offenders reversed up Sunningdale Avenue.

Three men got out of the car and demanded a 23-year-old man walking in the street handed over his phone and wallet, before they returned to the car and fled.

Police investigations later revealed that a card stolen in the robbery had then been used to order £183 worth of pizzas.

Two days later the gang carried out a spree of eight knifepoint robberies between 6.30pm and 10.10pm using a stolen Audi.

The crimes typically saw a group of men jump out of the stolen car and threaten victims with knife and demand cash, and then flee in the Audi.

However at around 10.30pm the car was picked up by a police Automatic Number Plate Recognition camera in the Cheetham Hill area.

Officers tracked the car and arrested four men, finding the car filled with items stolen in the robberies, including mobile phones and bank cards.

Abdullah Chaudhry, of Park Road, Prestwich, was jailed for four years at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.

A 17-year-old boy was also sentenced to three years in a young offenders institute after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.

And a 16-year-old boy was sentenced to a two year detention training order after pleading guilty to similar offences.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Ian Partington, of Greater Manchester Police's Bury District, said: "Over a period of just a few hours, these individuals brought misery to numerous innocent members of the public who were confronted by robbers who threatened to kill unless they complied.

"But this gang were as foolish as they were menacing. They left countless pieces of evidence in their wake via which we were able to trace them and prove their involvement in these crimes.

"Now they have a long time to contemplate their actions and the upset they have caused."