A man has been given a lengthy jail sentence after a series of robberies in Tameside and Manchester where he terrified members of staff at stores.

Jose Da Silva appeared in Manchester Crown Court after pleading guilty to nine counts of robbery.

The court heard he targeted foot outlets and stores in December 2019 and threatened staff with a knife, forced them to open tills so he could steal money.

He first struck at a Farmfoods when he entered wearing dark clothing and pointed a knife at the head of a staff member who defied him and did not open the till.

Da Silva stole £10 then ran away.

Less than an hour later he entered Subway in Openshaw, ordered a sandwich and as he handed the store worker a £5 note he leapt across the counter and demanded money claiming he had a gun.

During subsequent days he targeted Greggs in Droylsden where he stabbed a member of staff in the leg and the GoLocal store in Audenshaw where he stole £250 after threatening staff.

Police became confident it was the same man who had carried out all these robberies due to the similar methods.

He struck again at a Subway in Ashton under Lyne and Greggs in Clayton four days later.

Da  Silvavstruck for the last time at McDonalds in Droylsden where he was spotted on CCTV grabbing a woman’s hair and forcing her to open the till.

He was arrested after being chased when people called the police to say a robbery was ongoing.

Officers found £283 from the robbery when they caught him.

He admitted nine counts of robbery and the 20-year-old, from Brightman Street in Manchester, was jailed for 14 years.

Detective Constable Chris Oldham, of GMP's Ashton-under-Lyne CID, praised the victims for their “immense bravery and courage."

He said : "This was a terrifying series of incidents across a number of stores in the Tameside and east Manchester areas and Da Silva deserves every bit of yesterday's sentence.

"The fear and intimidation he caused by grabbing and threatening his victims was palpable, and no one should go to work and be subjected to such appalling acts of crime.

"I would like to pay tribute to everyone involved in this investigation who helped achieve this conviction; from the immense bravery and courage shown by the victims of these incidents, to the witnesses who came forward to assist with our investigation and ensure that we were able to bring Da Silva to justice.

"We've worked extensively to get this man in custody and ensuring he is held accountable for the full extent of his offending; this has seen us view hours of CCTV footage and speak to dozens of witnesses and victims to build a compelling case that ultimately saw Da Silva throw the towel in with unanimous guilty verdicts in court.”