A WYTHALL man has been given a 10 year jail sentence after he and his sister planned a "terrifying" home invasion raid by three armed and masked robbers.

Luke Egginton, aged 26, and his 25-year-old sister Amy Egginton targeted a home where she had worked as a cleaner and knew where the money was kept, Worcester Crown Court heard.

She burst into the home in Alcester Road, Wythall, with two unknown men at 5.10pm on January 31, 2014, when company director Nirmal Gupta and his wife Saroj Gupta were at home .

Mr Gupta responded to a knock on the door and it was shoved open as three intruders entered with their faces covered, Lynette McClement prosecuting, told the court.

They were armed with a knife and a taser.

Mr Gupta was knocked to the floor and held down while his wife was pushed into another room and Amy Egginton went upstairs.

She took a total of £5,500 in pounds and Euros from a drawer and then "ransacked" the upstairs to make it seem like a random burglary, Miss McClement said.

But the brother and sister had started planning it on January 17 and text messages showed they were targeting the home because of the money they knew was in it.

Amy Egginton, of Beillby Road in Stirchley, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary and aggravated burglary but failed to appear in court for sentencing.

Luke Egginton, of Shawfields, Wythall, pleaded not guilty to both charges.

A jury convicted him of conspiracy but found he had not been at the scene of the crime and he was cleared of aggravated burglary.

Miss McClement said the robbery had had a "massive effect" on the Guptas, who were both in late middle age.

They had been forced to sell their home because of the memory of the raid and Mrs Gupta had found her speech impediment had worsened to the extent she had been unable to give evidence and conversation was difficult for her.

Graham Arnold, defending, said Luke Egginton had only been involved in planning a burglary of an empty house.

The father of three had picked up his children from school and had been in a pub at the time the raid was carried out, the jury was told.

"He agreed to the invasion of a house but it didn't go as far as a burglary where people were present," Mr Arnold said.

"He did not take part but his sister had gone on her own with others."

Judge Robert Juckes, QC, said it must have been a "truly terrifying" experience for the Guptas and they had now been driven from their home.

There had been, he said, "unusually detailed" evidence about the conspiracy because of the text messages but he agreed Luke Egginton had not planned a confrontation.

The robbers had been "highly professional" and Luke Egginton did not take part either because he had "got cold feet or because someone better qualified" was taken on, the judge said.

He told Luke Egginton that if he had been convicted of aggravated burglary as well, the sentence would have been 16 years.

A warrant was issued and Amy Egginton will be sentenced at a later date.