Wythenshawe brothers targeted wealthy couples for Rolex and Patek Philippe watches in upmarket Hale - they've now been jailed, along with three others

Two brothers have been jailed for sickening robberies in which they snatched high-end watches from affluent diners after they left restaurants in upmarket Hale. On two occasions, Dean and Gary Stanway - career criminals from Wythenshawe - followed couples after they left Cibo Italian restaurant after spotting they were wearing luxury watches, including a £40,000 Rolex Daytona and a rare £182,000 Patek Philippe timepiece.

Wearing balaclavas, they threatened one man with baseball bats and terrified his wife by demanding her wedding ring. In a later but almost identical attack, the brothers wrestled the owner of the Patek Philippe timepiece to the ground and threatened him with batons.

He managed to keep hold of the watch although the strap, itself worth £12,000, was taken, as well as his partner's £13,000 Rolex. Now the brothers, and three other members of their gang, have been jailed after a court heard of the lasting trauma they had inflicted.

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The Stanway brothers were involved in one horrific robbery in which a couple were followed and threatened with baseball bats after they enjoyed a meal in Hale before a Rolex watch was stolen.

After the couple left Cibo restaurant at 9.30pm on October 31, 2020, they were followed by a Vauxhall Astra, with its lights switched off, and the occupants of the vehicle pounced as the couple turned into Brown Street, prosecutor Joshua Bowker told Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.

The vehicle's light came back on as the Astra 'screeched' alongside the couple and three masked men armed with baseball bats jumped out, the court was told. One of the