A robbery gang have been handed long jail sentences for a brutal raid on a holiday camp in which they attacked a worker with an axe and hammer.
The four men from Somerset travelled to Dawlish Warren on the last night of the August Bank Holiday last year and lay in wait for the manager of the Golden Sands Holiday Park as he banked the bumper £10,000 takings.
The masked men forced their way into the office, attacked a doorman who tried to resist and left him with serious injuries after battering him with a fireman's axe as he tried to shelter behind a washing machine.
Victim Timothy Harrison suffered deep cuts to his body and legs from the axe, a broken cheekbone, arm and shoulder and wounds to his head from a hammer.
At one point he was cowering on the ground and Lockyer continued raining blows from the axe while shouting;"I'm going to f***ing finish you off."
He is still off work and receiving treatment and counselling for the psychological effects of the attack, Exeter Crown Court was told.
The gang were caught because the quick witted owner of the neighbouring Lady's Mile site was suspicious of a car parked in a lane nearby and took a picture of it.
Craig Lockyer, aged 28, of Hillside Close, Radstock; Karl Daniels, aged 35, of Wookey, Somerset; and Dean Smart, aged 27, of Southlands, Bath, admitted robbery. Getaway driver Michael Kelly, aged 21, of Liddiatt Lane, Bath admitted conspiracy to burgle.
Lockyer was jailed for 12 years, Daniels for 11 years six months, Smart for eight years and Kelly for three years and nine months by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC.
He told the gang:"The most serious aspect of this case is the extreme violence which was used with Lockyer and the axe and by one of the others.
"Daniels and Smart did not have the axe but did nothing to prevent Lockyer from inflicting very serious injuries. You knew he had the axe and it was to be used at the very least to threaten.
"There was pre planning. You were wearing disguises, the offence was at night and you targeted a significant sum of money. The level of gratuitous violence takes this out of the sentencing guidelines."
Mr Adrian Chaplin, prosecuting, said Kelly drove the other three to the Golden Sands and waited in a lane while they his in bushes until manager Mr Joshua Youens-Stunell and maintenance worker Mr Timothy Harrison emerged from the entertainment complex and went to the office to put the £10,000 takings in the safe.
Lockyer, Daniels and Smart were all wearing balaclavas, gloves and dark clothing and Lockyer was armed with an axe.
Mr Chaplin said:"They told Mr Harrison to get down and threatened him with a fireman's axe. He struggled with Lockyer, who he said was acting like a beast and a raging bull.
"He was extremely violent and Mr Harrison was pushed up against a wall where he felt a blow to the back of his head. He went to the ground and a man hit him from behind with a hammer.
"He curled up to protect himself with his head jammed against a washing machine and the man with the axe shouted 'I'm going to f***ing finish you off'."
Mr Charles Rowe, for Lockyer, said he was under the influence of drink and cocaine and needed money to pay off debts.
Mr Piers Norsworthy, for Kelly, said he owed money to Lockyer and agreed to drive him to the raid without realising the level of violence which would be used.
Mr Richard Crabb and Mr Kevin Hopper, for Daniels and Smart, said they had not taken weapons to the scene and not taken part in the violence. They had both admitted their involvement.
