AN 'untouchable' gang of burglars has been jailed for more than 21 years for carrying out 54 raids during a five-month crime blitz across two counties.

Exeter Crown Court heard that gang leader Reginald Soper splashed out on luxury holidays to Jamaica and Mexico while shopkeepers and small entrepreneurs were left with their businesses in ruins.

The group was quite literally a 'hole in the wall' gang because they smashed their way into business units by demolishing exterior walls and bulldozing doors with stolen fork lifts.

They left a trail of destruction across Devon and Somerset which was so great that crime figures plummeted when they were caught.

Reginald Soper and his brother Percy had lived in Devon for years and used their knowledge of back lanes to carry out their raids.

They believed they were untouchable because they wore facemasks as disguises, gloves to prevent them leaving prints or traces of DNA and scouted their targets using night vision goggles and walkie talkies.

They never took their loot back to their base at a caravan site near Taunton but instead hid it in hedgerows so they could pick it up when the coast was clear.

Reginald Soper and sidekick Nicky Christian started the crime spree with seven raids on jewellery and antique shops, one of which almost bankrupted the uninsured owner.

Percy joined in as they switched their targets to small trading estates in remote rural areas all over Devon, where they used extreme violence to break in and caused £50,870 damage to steal just £64,061 worth of goods.

They were caught after a huge police operation which linked the few forensic clues which they left with CCTV footage, phone and numberplate recognition evidence.

Police trapped them when they stumbled across a safe which had been stolen in a raid at Ivybridge in woodland near Modbury, South Devon.

They replaced it with a dummy safe fitted with a camera and caught Percy Soper as he returned to fetch it. They then tracked his brother as he came to meet him.

The total value of the goods stolen was over £180,000 and included 17 safes and the damage to buildings was £57,000.

Reginald Soper, aged 50, and his brother Percy Soper, aged 56, both of the Otterford caravan park at Culmhead, near Taunton, Somerset, and Nick Christian, aged 25, of Bernice Terrace, Plymouth, Devon, all denied conspiracy to burgle but were convicted.

On Tuesday, Reginald Soper was jailed for eight and a half years, Percy Soper and Christian were both jailed for six and a half years.

Judge Phillip Wassall said: 'The common features of this conspiracy were the violent and destructive methods used to enter and the amount of damage caused and safes being removed by extreme means.

'Reginald Soper was living well beyond his means in terms of a lifestyle of holidays abroad which are more associated with someone who has a well paid job rather than no visible means of support other than benefits.

'These were crimes committed on a professional scale. They were highly organised and planned. The amount of violence used to gain entry makes them more akin to robbery because of their impact on local communities.'

Judge Wassall praised the painstaking work of the police which finally brought the gang to justice.

Detective Inspector Jim Tarr welcomed the sentences and said: 'This crime spree was well planned and organised with most of the offences taking place at night.

'The criminals left a trail of destruction behind them. They thought they were untouchable and had an enormous impact on rural communities in Devon and Somerset.

'It is not a coincidence that the crime wave has ceased upon the arrest of the gang. A significant amount of work went into this complex investigation and this has been reflected in the guilty verdicts.

'I would like to thank the victims for their cooperation, patience and support during the investigation.'

None of the three men gave evidence but their lawyers claimed the case against them was circumstantial and built on supposition.

Targeted in West Devon by the gang were Beacon Communication, Pitts Cleave Industrial Estate, Tavistock; Rawle, Gammon and Baker, Hatherleigh; Mark Marketing, Hatherleigh and Devon Photo Services, Winkleigh Airfield.