15 years for jewel thief

A gunman in the "Pink Panther" diamond heist gang was today jailed for 15 years as security guards who disarmed him were praised by an Old Bailey judge.

Serbian gangster Nebojasa Denic, 34, threatened staff at Graff 's store in new Bond Street with a revolver as accomplice Pedja Vujosevic escaped with jewellery worth £23 million, the court heard.

Denic fled and security guard Simon Stearman gave chase despite being shot at, the bullet ricocheting into the face of a woman bystander who escaped serious injury.

After Mr Stearman dragged Denic to the ground, fellow guard Clinton Delo helped hold him until police arrived. Judge Gerald Gordon today said the guards showed "exceptional courage" after the raid in May last year, and awarded each of them £700 from central funds.

Denic, 34, who lives in Switzerland, was convicted of conspiracy to rob and firearms charges. Accomplice Milan Jovetic, 23, in whose Bayswater flat detectives found a £500,000 diamond ring, was jailed for five and half years for conspiracy to rob. Vujosevic was arrested in May in Paris where police will interview him.