TWO men who battered an agricultural worker with an iron bar and threatened to kill others when they broke into a house have each been sentenced to eight years in jail, thanks to the efforts of Herefordshire police.

Officers from the force worked with colleagues from London and Lincolnshire to make sure they tracked down the men responsible.

Tomas Grumcius, aged 24, and Gediminas Barcys, 26, broke in to the house shared by agricultural workers in Marden, Herefordshire, at 10.30pm on Saturday, October 20, last year.

Grumcius and Barcys attacked one man with an iron bar and threatened to kill the other before grabbing a haul of items, including the keys to a BMW, which they sped off in.

Arrested

Hereford police worked with Metropolitan police officers to track the men down to south London, where they lived, and one week later they were arrested.

The county's officers also discovered the men, originally from Lithuania, had carried out a similar offence in Boston, Lincolnshire.

"This was a very complex investigation, made all the more difficult because only two of the victims speak English," said Det Con Malcolm Summers, from Herefordshire police.

"This result, brought about by three police forces working together, means that victims can feel reassured and now get on with their lives."

Judge Teare, summing up at Lincolnshire Crown Court after the two-week trial, said he was satisfied the offences were pre-planned.

"You showed your victims no mercy," he said.

"Grumcius was clearly identified as the most aggressive, using violence on the victims, with Barcys in the background giving the orders.

"I recommend deportation once you have served your sentences.

"This country has no need for violent and dishonest men like yourselves."