The owner of a Brighton massage parlour has spoken of his delight after robbers who pistol whipped one customer and threatened to shoot a woman were jailed.

Milan Mraz, 31, and Akintunde Drummond-Brown, 21, burst into Brighton Belles in April armed with kitchen knives and an imitation firearm.

Peter Wakeham, who co-owns the Montpelier Road parlour with his partner, explained how the men pointed the fake gun at people before escaping with £7,000 in cash.

The 52-year-old described how the men pointed the weapon at the head of his 50-year-old girlfriend.

They also pistol whipped a customer with the gun, hit the parlour’s security guard a number of times and repeatedly threatened to kill people.

Mr Wakeham, who lives in Brighton, said he was happy with the men’s sentence after they appeared at Lewes Crown Court yesterday.

He said: “There was no way we knew it was an imitation gun while it was happening.

“We wouldn’t resist an armed robber but they were so violent anyway. They were unnecessarily violent, hitting and attacking people.

“They took a lot of money, including the staff wages, their personal money and takings.”

The incident happened at 3am on Sunday, April 29, when Mraz and Drummond-Brown forced their way into the business.

Detective Constable Ed Downes said: “I hope these sentences will go some way to comfort the staff at the massage parlour who were threatened and made to fear for their lives during what should have been the normal course of their business.

“There were seven staff, one man and six women, and two customers present at the time of the robbery. Some of the staff received minor bruising but fortunately none of them required hospital treatment.

“They were all visibly shocked by their ordeal.”

Mraz and Drummond-Brown, both of no fixed address, were each jailed for five years after admitting having an offensive weapon, having an imitation firearm and three counts of robbery.