An "extremely violent" burglar was jailed yesterday for threatening to abduct the children of England captain Steven Gerrard during a raid on the Liverpool midfielder's home.

Martin Wilson, 22, was part of a mob that smashed its way into the England skipper's mansion while he was away playing for Liverpool in the Champions League in December 2007.

Gerrard's wife Alex Curran confronted the gang, who demanded she hand over jewellery and the contents of a safe or else they would "take her kids", Liverpool Crown Court in northwest England heard.

The couple's two children are now aged six and four.

Wilson pleaded guilty to the burglary last month. Yesterday, he was sentenced to serve seven years and four months in prison.

"You threatened the occupants of the house with violence and the use of a knife," judge Robert Warnock said.

"Particularly seriously, you threatened to abduct the children if she did not hand over the safe. You are both venal and extremely violent."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.