Watch: Ex-soldier, 61, bravely disarms and holds corner shop robber who pointed gun at staff

This is the moment a former soldier aged 61 came to the rescue when he used his military training to disarm a robber who’d held up a corner shop at gun point.

Anthony Wolfe said his military background helped him to deal with robber James Gowland, 31, on January 20 in Ermin Food and Wine in Swindon, Wiltshire.

Gowland later admitted robbery and possessing an imitation firearm and was jailed for two years and ten months at Swindon Crown Court.

Mr Wolfe ran to the shop once he was alerted to the armed robbery, arriving with a wood saw to help him.

At one point, he had wrestled the gun off Gowland before pointing it at his head and asked: “If I pulled this will it blow your head off?”

The former soldier said: “He pointed the gun at us. I charged forward, took the gun with both hands, twisted it and took it off him.

“I couldn’t get him to the ground and we crashed into sweets and chocolate shelves which fell over.

“I thought ‘It’s far better that an idiot doesn’t have a gun and that I have it’.

“I wasn’t sure whether it was loaded. At that point I had it in my hand – it was heavy and I hadn’t got a clue whether it was real or not.

“The shopkeeper was stuck in the corner behind the counter – he was trapped by the robber who was about to leave the shop when we arrived.”

Judge Robert Pawson described Mr Wolfe’s actions as “breathtaking”.

Gowland pointed his weapon at the shopkeeper Jegan Kandaswamy ordering him to hand over the money or he would shoot him.

When the shopkeeper unlocked the till, Gowland took the cash, as well as two bottles of Jack Daniel’s whiskey from a shelf.

Swindon Crown Court heard Gowland was in debt and suffered with depression.

Mr Wolfe completed basic army training as an 18-year-old and then became a secondary school teacher.