A TRUSTY bashed-up cricket bat used to keep out out draughts helped a shopkeeper hit back at an armed robber.

Martyn Jacobs, of Bowerdean Way, High Wycombe, was jailed for six years last week after he admitted attempted robbery of an off-licence and the possession of an imitation firearm, at an earlier hearing.

Lahbir Jhutty was in his off-licence in Lane End when Jacobs entered, pulled a gun from his pocket and shouted 'gimme the cash'. Mr Jhutty had his own secret weapon, a broken old bat he uses to prop the door closed at the village shop in Park Lane.

He plucked the bat from under the counter and swung it at the startled 21-year-old robber, who dropped his gun and ran off, swearing as he went.

Mr Jhutty said: "He pointed the gun at me and I said 'hold on a minute' and picked up the bat and batted him on his hand and the gun fell down.

"It all just happened in a minute and I just grabbed it. I didn't realise it would come in so handy. The door doesn't close properly so we just use the bat, especially in the winter, to keep cold draughts out."

Mr Jhutty's wife told the Midweek that she had been pretty shaken up when it happened.

She said: "My husband doesn't even play cricket. He just watches it and uses the old bat to play with the kids in the garden."

Aylesbury Crown Court heard last Tuesday that the attack happened when Jacobs approached the counter at Cans off-licence with a can of drink on December 22 last year and then pulled out the gun.

But Mr Jhutty knocked the gun from his grasp and leapt over the counter, pursuing Jacobs, who just managed to escape.

Prosecuting Tim Ashmole added that Jacobs picked up the weapon but left the shop empty handed.

Police later recovered the imitation firearm when they arrested Jacobs at his home where he told officers he had bought it for £400 but then remarked "I should have worn a balaclava".

Basil Hillman, representing Jacobs, told the court Jacobs had been under the influence of others who he feared because they claimed he owed money for drugs, and he had the gun for his own protection.

Sentencing, Judge Roger Connor said reports had disclosed Jacobs was not mentally ill and he said: "The simple fact is you have a personality which predisposes you to commit offences."

The court also took into account two previous offences of burglary.

Detective Constable Rob Hood, dealing with the case, said it was a particularly serious offence and they were glad that a violent criminal had been taken off the streets. He added: "Mr Jhutty's actions were brave but we would not recommend people taking the law into their own hands."