Two thugs filmed themselves smashing into a mum's home before she was hit with a metal mallet.
John Wells and Anthony McVey were jailed this week for their links to an Italian revolver controlled by gangsters Liam Rogan and Ryan Kennedy.
Wells helped move the gun across Liverpool, while McVey's DNA was found on the weapon when it was seized by police.
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But a court heard the two crooks for hire also had to be sentenced over a shocking raid at a terrified family's house.
Stephen McNally, prosecuting, said Wells persuaded a woman to drive him and McVey to Staffordshire on May 30, 2020.
The woman was originally charged alongside them, but later provided evidence for the prosecution, explaining that Wells conned her into thinking he was going to collect cash from an associate, which he owed to her.
Liverpool Crown Court was told they arrived in the town of Burton upon Trent shortly after 7pm.
Mr McNally said: "The prosecution case is that John Wells and Tony McVey had travelled there planning to carry out an attack in exchange for payment from a third party."
Just before 8pm, the two hooded and masked men, in all black clothing, were captured on CCTV near Blakeholme Court.
McVey was carrying a short-handled axe in his gloved right hand, while Wells - wearing blue rubber gloves - wielded a mallet with a metal head.
As they approached their target, McVey started recording on his mobile phone.
Mr McNally said: "They begin to smash each of the front windows of the property in turn, Mr McVey using an axe to do that and Mr Wells using an item - most likely the mallet - to smash glass panels in the front door."
The clip ended as McVey kicked through the front door, alerting Emma Fearn, who came downstairs when she heard the "smashing" glass.
She was at home with her 22-year-old son Adam, 18-year-old daughter Kelsey and father-in-law Philip Gee, but her two other sons were not present.
Mr McNally said: "She describes that she saw two males dressed all in black and with their faces covered come through the door."
He said the "scared" mum ran into the living room and Adam Fearn tried to escape through the patio doors, but was told to stop by Wells and turned around to face him.
Mr McNally said: "The witnesses describe by his reaction John Wells realised that Adam Fearn was not the person he had been looking for - he had the wrong person.
"Mrs Fearn had noticed John Wells holding a mallet and described on seeing Adam Fearn's face, John Wells, apparently in anger, struck a glass dining table with the mallet - smashing the table.
"He then turned and swung the mallet at her, striking a blow to her right shoulder, causing her immediate pain."
The victims described how McVey stood further back, holding the axe, and Wells had "gone for" Adam Fearn, but then stopped.
Having also smashed the TV, the two thugs fled without saying a word, running back to the waiting car.
Mr McNally said: "It appears the reason they left so quickly was because they were looking for someone else.
"That would appear most likely to be Kyle Taylor, one of Mrs Fearn's sons, who arrived at his mother's house just a few minutes after the attack."
Phone cell site evidence, ANPR data, CCTV, texts and their own video placed both crooks at the scene.
McVey was arrested in July 2020, when an axe and clothing similar to that shown on the CCTV were found in his home, plus paperwork in Wells' name.
He denied any wrongdoing, only to plead guilty to aggravated burglary on the opening day of a trial.
Wells was arrested in August 2020 and gave a no comment interview.
He was found guilty of the same charge after a trial in which he denied being in the car and accused the driver of organising the trip to collect a debt owed to her.
Mr McNally said Mrs Fearn described being "terrified" as "two lads wearing masks smashed their way into her house".
Summarising a victim statement, he said: "She said she was fearful for her life and those of her children.
"Since those events she describes herself as unable to settle and scared, and jumping at the slightest noise."
In relation to the February 2020 gun charges, Wells, 37, of no fixed address, was found guilty of possessing the revolver and arranging its transfer.
McVey, 32, of Worcester Drive, Clubmoor, was found guilty of possessing the revolver.
The court heard both men had "lengthy" criminal records.
Wells was convicted of robbery and assault causing actual bodily harm in 2000, when he was just 15, another robbery in 2002, when he was 18, and conspiracy to rob in 2006, when he was 21.
The 2006 offence saw police catch Wells and three other thugs red handed in a car in Toxteth with a "robbers' kit" consisting of two samurai swords, a machete, a CS gas canister, balaclavas, gloves, walkie-talkies and a map.
Wells, then of Wellington Road, Wavertree, was hit with an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, with a three-year minimum term.
He also has convictions for escaping custody and harassment in 2013 and 2018 respectively.
Simon Driver, defending Wells, said: "Of course many an aggravated burglary contains elements of violence and consequential harm which far, far exceed the very nasty and intimidating events in Burton on Trent."
He said a psychiatric report set out his client's "very unhappy background", which "underpinned" his crimes.
McVey has a conviction for robbery and possessing an offensive weapon in 2011, after the then 21-year-old robbed a man at knifepoint in St Helens. He was last convicted in 2014 of dangerous driving.
Andrew McInnes, defending McVey, said he didn't use any violence or make any threats during the raid.
Judge Brian Cummings, QC, accepted this point, but said: "Do you need to make any threats when you're holding an axe?"
Mr McInnes said McVey had daily contact with his young daughter until he was remanded in custody.
He said McVey was living in supported housing at the time, having been brought up in care.
The barrister said his client had found work in 2014, but was then assaulted, when he suffered "a significant scar on his face".
He said McVey then made three suicide attempts and started to "use alcohol as a crutch".
Mr McInnes said he got involved in serious crime again "as a consequence of really not caring what was happening to him".
Judge Cummings said he kept in mind that no one was seriously injured in the break-in.
However, he told Wells: "You did take it upon yourself to strike the female occupier with a mallet, for no reason other than anger or frustration it seems, causing her some pain and bruising."
The judge said the raid was "very alarming" and the pair caused "terror and distress".
He said: "You were apparently searching for a particular person - the circumstances have all the hallmarks of having an organised crime background."
Judge Cummings told McVey: "Smashing your way into someone's home with an axe in your hand is a terrifyingly dangerous thing to do."
He concluded both men were "dangerous".
Wells was jailed for six years for the gun offences, consecutive to nine years with an extended four years on licence for the burglary.
The combined effect of these two types of sentences means he must serve at least nine years behind bars before he can apply for parole.
McVey was jailed for five years for possessing the revolver, plus eight years with an extended four years on licence for the burglary.
He must serve at least around seven years and nine months in jail before he can request parole.
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