Two men have been jailed at Kingston Crown Court after a TV antiques expert was hit on the head with a claw hammer during a robbery at his jewellery store.

James Dixon, 43, and Thomas Loring, 41, targeted Ian Towning's shop in Chelsea in March, taking up to £365,000 worth of antiques and jewellery.

Mr Towning, who has appeared on ITV's Dickinson's Real Deal and Channel 4's Posh Pawn, told the BBC that he is "lucky to be alive".

The raid was one in a "campaign of burglaries" around Greater London between March and June 2024, targeting cash-in-transit workers, Post Offices and a Poundland.

Dixon was handed a 17-year extended prison sentence and Loring a 14-year sentence for conspiring to rob and conspiring to burgle.

Sentencing the pair at Kingston Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey said the jewellery shop burglary, on 26 March, was their most serious offence.

Dixon carried a claw hammer and Loring a sledgehammer, prosecutor Rupert Kent told the court.

In a victim impact statement, Ian Towning said he often cries uncontrollably when he thinks about what happened

The two owners were inside and Mr Towning, who is in his 70s, was struck multiple times with a hammer, the court heard.

Judge Tregilgas-Davey said the owners were seen on CCTV "cowering on the floor".

He continued: "Dixon, you then punched Mr Towning again before you fled the shop with the items, got into a getaway car and sped off – it was a brazen robbery."

Mr Towning said in his victim impact statement, read to the court by the judge: "It's left me with a fear of social situations… I am depressed and often cry uncontrollably when I think about what happened."