Two gangsters who tried to rob a garden centre armed with knives, handcuffs and meatballs laced with drugs have been jailed.
Daniel Mcauley, 35, and Jason Milton Gregson, 45, had the tyres of their car shot out on their way to the raid in Cadishead, Salford.
Armed police officers found three knives, a bottle of ammonia and balaclavas inside the vehicle.
Armed officers ambush the men as they drive through Salford on their way to the store
Jason Milton Gregson, 45, (left) and Daniel Mcauley, 35, (right) had the tyres of their car shot out on their way to a robbery in Cadishead, Salford
The men were driving to a hydroponics store, which specialises in products for indoor horticulture, when they were swooped on, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The day before their hired Vauxhall Corsa was stopped by police and meatballs containing drugs were found, reports the Manchester Evening News.
It is believed they were due to be fed to guard dogs at the store.
Mcauley was found guilty of possessing a knife and a weapon at an earlier trial, while Gregson was found guilty of possessing two knives.
Both the men admitted conspiracy to steal.
Mcauley, from Blackpool, was sentenced to four years and six months in prison, while Gregson, from Salford, was jailed for four years and two months.
Armed police swarm the scene of the arrest during November last year in Salford
The back window of the pair’s hired Vauxhall Corsa is smashed through by armed police
Judge Michael Leeming told the court: ‘These are serious offences committed by serious offenders
‘This was a premeditated offence in which Mcauley was the prime mover.’
Mcauley had been spotted by police at two addresses, in Salford and Blackpool, both were cannabis had been grown.
In Salford 39 plants were found, with an estimated worth of £8,500, while in Blackpool there was 23, with an estimated yield of up to £10,200.
Judge Leeming said the pair had targeted the hydroponic stores in order to ‘reproduce that set-up’.