A MACHETE gang robbed a delivery driver of £1,200-worth of cigarettes, booze and condoms in a “scary and unpleasant” attack in Basildon.

Ricky Patmore, 26, Joshua Wiggins, 25, and Connor Harrison, 27, placed a bogus order in a bid to “trick and rob” the driver of the stock in the back of the delivery van.

When the driver arrived at the Basildon address, Patmore, of Thompson Road, Griston, threatened him with a machete, while the other two ransacked the van.

The gang also stole the driver’s wallet and keys, with a total of £680 in personal items being snatched.

A fourth man, Gheorghe Rostas, 33, took the stolen goods in at his home.

During the same hearing Patmore was jailed for his role in a Basildon aggravated burglary which left a man with brain injuries, wheelchair-bound and with epilepsy.

Sentencing at Basildon Crown Court yesterday, Judge Andrew Hurst said: “It was well-planned and they placed bogus orders.

“It was a nasty, scary, unpleasant robbery.”

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Referring to the aggravated burglary, he added: “The victim suffered devastating, life changing injuries and no children should see their parent go through something like this.

“He suffered multiple head injuries including a bleed on the brain and spent ten months in hospital.”

Mitigating for Patmore, Drea Becker said his sole purpose for the robbery was to fund his drug habit.

Speaking for Wiggins, Rahul Kumar told the court he was abused as a young man before he became homeless and fell in with the wrong crowd.

Mitigating for Harrison, Parminder Panesar said: “When he saw the machete he went along with it out of fear.”

Mitigating on behalf of Rostas, Eleanor De said it was extreme short-sightedness on his part.

Following the incident in August 2018, Patmore admitted robbery and aggravated burglary and was jailed for eight years.

Rostas, of Maylons Mews, Basildon, admitted handing stolen goods and was sentenced to four months suspended for two years.

Wiggins, of Buckles Lane, South Ockendon, and Harrison, of Church Road, Sheerness, admitted robbery and were both jailed for four years.