London, Dec 24 (IANS): A Sikh mother and son have been sentenced to a total prison term of more than three years in the UK for conspiring to steal 8000 pounds from a community wedding fund.

Kalwant Kaur, 41, was jailed for 15 months and Jung Singh Lankanpal, 22, was handed a 30-month jail term as they appeared before the Southampton Crown Court on Friday.

A court heard a group of women from the local Sikh community had helped organise a collection to pay for a wedding within the community.

While they were counting the money, Lankanpal, armed with a gun, burst inside the property at Clovelly Road in Southampton on September 15.

He threatened the women and demanded they hand over the money, the Hampshire Police said in a statement.

The court heard that the vehicle used to get away from the scene, a red Hyundai, was found to be registered in the name of Kaur who was at the address and helping with the collection.

"Kaur and Lankanpal made a cold and callous decision to steal such a large sum of money from people they knew, money which was meant to help people in their community," Detective Constable Jess Swift, from the Western Area Crime Team, said.

"Despite Kaur trying to present herself as a witness to a crime, it was quickly established she had used her knowledge to help orchestrate this burglary," Swift added.

Both mother and son were arrested the same day they committed the crime, and pleaded guilty in October to a charge of conspiring to commit a burglary.

"Through some very comprehensive enquiries, we have been able to ensure both pleaded guilty to these offences and will serve a jail sentence. I hope this provides the local community some reassurance and gives them some justice for what happened," Swift said.