A JEWELLERY shop owner bravely tackled a violent robber who stormed into his premises after telling shocked female staff: “I will sort this.”

Jurors at Carlisle Crown Court watched dramatic CCTV footage of the incident.

It showed the moment an intruder with his face completely covered entered St Nicholas Galleries, on Bank Street in the city centre, at about 2.20pm on Thursday, June 6.

As shocked female employees and two customers looked on, long-serving store owner Craig Carruthers shepherded one worker out of the firing line, saying: “I will sort this.”

Giving evidence on the second day of the yesterday, Mr Carruthers recalled seeing a masked man enter his premises - which had also been robbed earlier in the year - before vaulting the counter.

“He came towards me and I kicked out. He kicked me back and I looked at his hands,” said Mr Carruthers.

“I looked at his hands to see if he had a weapon due to previous.

“I just saw gloves and then I was hit.”

Mr Carruthers, who has run the store for decades, was floored by what he described as “intense” force which “felt like a knuckleduster”.

He suffered a broken nose.

Despite being dazed, he got up and, when he saw the raider grabbing at jewellery from a window display, lashed out with a set of small step ladders which were close by.

“I thought ‘he is not getting any more of my stock’,” he told jurors.

A masked accomplice carrying a small fire extinguisher entered the doorway and beckoned for the robber to leave.

Both escaped in a Ford Fiesta with “screeching” tyres, the jury has been told. A bystander had made an attempt to take the keys from the car.

One of the terrified employees, Susan Baker, later told police about seeing the first crook.

She said: “I remember thinking ‘oh god, not again’.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes. I knew that he was there to rob us.”

Two men alleged to have been responsible for the crime are on trial.

Daniel Burtak, 32, of no fixed address, and 36-year-old Ashley Entwistle, of Athlone Avenue, Bolton, deny robbing Mr Carruthers.

Both were stopped travelling south in an Audi on the M6 later that afternoon.

They jury has already heard that stolen jewellery was found in that vehicle, along with broken glass which matched pieces found in the stolen Fiesta which was used as an initial getaway car. It was found abandoned in an alleyway off nearby Chiswick Street in Carlisle city centre.

Prosecutor Antony Longworth had already stated its claim that the pair had been seen travelling along streets in Carlisle before the raid took place, in what they believe was a”reconnaissance mission” ahead of the crime being committed.

The trial continues.