This is the moment a brave shopkeeper tackled a raider armed with a gun who burst into his store and demanded cash

Christopher Allison pointed the weapon at a worker at the Best One shop and demanded money from the till on December 27.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the brave assistant grabbed at the gun, which turned out to be a blank firing handgun, and "tussled" with the 31-year-old, who left empty handed.

Prosecutor Emma Dowling told the court the attempted robbery, which made the worker fear it could be "the last day of my life" was caught on CCTV.

She said Allison had gone into the shop at Concord, Washington, and picked up a drink from a fridge and added: "The defendant came to the counter with the energy drink and a white plastic bag in his hand.

"He asked the worker if he could also have a scratchcard, a number 16 and when he went to get the scratchcard the defendant produced a gun and demanded money from the till.

"Initially, the shop worker states he thought the gun was a toy. He tried to grab the gun and there was a tussle.

"The defendant got away and pointed the item at him again. This time he ducked under the counter in case it was fired."

The court heard when Allison left he store, the brave shop worker watched the direction he walked to and told the police.

In a statement, the worker said: "Initially I was not too frightened of the male, he seemed nervous, which gave me the confidence to grab at his hand and the gun but when he struggled and pointed it at me again I felt really frightened, that is the reason I hid behind the counter."

He added: "When the man pointed the gun at me I felt like it might be the last day of my life.

"He seemed nervous, I kept thinking he was so nervous he might have killed me."

Allison, of Johnson Terrace, Sulgrave, Washington, admitted attempted robbery and possession of an imitation fire arm at the time of committing an offence and has been jailed for two years and four months.

Judge Tim Gittins said the shopkeeper was "brave" despite his "fear and distress" and added: "He had no way of knowing that it wasn't a real weapon, even if you knew it was an imitation, a fake.

"He was a lone worker providing a public service in running that local shop. There is no reason why he or anyone in such circumstances should have to face someone in the way he did."

The court heard Allison, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome and has learning difficulties, had lost his job before the raid and had fallen into debt with his rent payments.

Judge Gittins said: "What you did was chose a highly foolish and seriously criminal way to try to deal with those problems."

Richard Hollland, defending, said Allison has shown a "considerable degree of remorse" for what he did and is a vulnerable individual.

Mr Holland said: "He was, on this occasion, motivated by financial desperation, having lost his job shortly before this offence was committed."