Baby 'gun' attack man is jailed

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A robber who held an imitation pistol to a baby's head and then threw her to the floor during a raid on a fabric store has been jailed for nine years.

David Barber, 26, of Darnall, Sheffield, brandished a knife and a fake pistol when he burst into the Fashion Mahal in Lowfield in February.

Police said it was "amazing" that the seven-week old was not seriously hurt.

Barber was jailed at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday after admitting a string of robbery offences.

Barber threatened to shoot the baby if the alarm was raised

His brother, John Barber, 30, from Norton Lees in Sheffield, was jailed for two-and-a-half years for assisting an offender and for perverting the course of justice.

Marooj Akhtar, 22, was in the shop with her mother when Barber burst in.

The case was featured on the BBC's Crimewatch programme a month after the raid.

Mrs Akhtar told the BBC at the time of the appeal how the robber had pointed his handgun at her baby daughter Iqra, and grabbed the baby by the neck when her mother raised the alarm at the back door.

The sentence for me reflects the seriousness of the crime Det Insp Zaf Ali, South Yorkshire Police

He ordered Mrs Akhtar to stop her mother, saying he was going to shoot the baby. He ran off after throwing the baby to the floor.

Mrs Akhtar said: "Taking the money was bad enough but actually to put her to gunpoint was terrifying.

"I didn't actually think I was ever going to see her again."

Following the hearing on Friday, Det Insp Zaf Ali of South Yorkshire Police, said he was pleased with the sentence.

He said: "The sentence for me reflects the seriousness of the crime and the levels that Barber was prepared to go to to achieve his aims."