A man who battered a railway station guard with a sawn-off shot gun before robbing a cleaner at gunpoint has been jailed for 18 years.

Anton Newell, 26, of Marlborough Road, Wood Green, threatened and assaulted staff at South Acton station in March.

He pleaded guilty to robbery and aggravated burglary at Harrow Crown Court on Tuesday.

The court heard that Newell first broke into the booking office at the station on March 4, between 1.40am and 2.15am, stealing a set of keys.

Later that morning, he returned and tried to open the ticket vending machine shutters and ticket office using the stolen keys.

He then stole a deposit box with £950 inside it from the booking office, and took it away in a shopping trolley.

A week later, on March 11, Newell returned and threatened a security guard with a sawn-off shotgun. He walked the man into the ticket office, asking for the location of the safe.

On being told the safe had been stolen, Newell hit the guard around the head several times with the butt of the gun.

The court also heard Newell stole the guard’s wallet and mobile phone.

As Newell left the station, he approached a station cleaner, sitting in a parked van, and threatened him with the shotgun before stealing his wallet.

Chief Superintendent Paul Brogden, said: "Newell's actions left two members of rail staff genuinely frightened for their lives and his willingness to use extreme violence and a firearm is truly shocking.

"Robbery, and all other violent crime, has no place on the railway and the lengthy sentence handed down sends a clear message to would-be criminals that they will be made to pay for their actions."

Peter Austin, managing director of London Overground Rail Operations, said the sentence was “a fantastic result” for the company.