A desperate dad who turned to a loan shark for help when his uninsured family home burned to the ground was jailed for five years today for robbing his local bank.

David Bruce, who was hailed a hero when he saved his young children from the blaze in February, thought the only way he could escape his vicious creditors was to commit a crime and get himself locked up.

So on June 28 the 29-year-old held up Barclay's bank Southwick, Sunderland, with a pizza-covered kitchen knife.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how the terrified bank staff believed he had a gun and armed police arrested him with £1,840 in cash stuffed into his pockets.

When he was pounced on by one of the officers as he ran away from the branch he said: "I didn't harm anybody, the money from the bank is in my pocket."

The court heard how Bruce had borrowed £3,000 to secure a tenancy and for a home for him, his partner and their children aged one and six. He also needed to replace all of their possessions which were lost in the blaze.

But within a few months extortionate interest rates meant the debt had grown to £20,000, which unemployed Bruce had no hope of paying back.

The court heard how on June 25 he was stabbed in the face, abdomen and leg during a horrifying attack.

After being let out of hospital the loan shark warned him he should give up the tenancy on the new family home to get back the deposit to use as payment.

Meanwhile, Bruce was stripped of everything he owned, including children's videos and their television.

Thinking his girlfriend and children would be safe if he was no longer on the scene, he decided to hold up the bank three days later.

Prosecutor Robert Adams told the court: "At about 4.30pm the police received a report of an armed robbery in progress and they attended.

"They were armed response vehicles because of what had been said at the time, that there was a gun, which in fact there was not.

"Armed officers attended the scene to try to find him and due to the assistance from a member of the public the defendant was pointed out.

"Officers gave chase on foot and eventually an officer tackled the defendant to the ground and put him in handcuffs."

The court heard how during the robbery Bruce had showed a cashier the handle of the knife, which she believed was a gun.

He then asked her if she had pressed the panic alarm and warned other members of staff they should contact the police.

As he fled the bank just moments before the armed officers arrived he gave a "thumbs up" to the workers.

Mr Adams added: "This is an extremely odd case to put it mildly."

Bruce, of Plymouth Close, Seaham, County Durham, admitted robbery.

His only previous conviction is for having no television licence.

Defence barrister Tony Davis said Bruce should have been picking up a bravery award this week for his heroic actions during the blaze.

He added: "There can be no more evidence need by the court, this was but a genuine, desperate attempt to remove himself from the reaches of the loan shark.

"His thinking being if he was remanded into custody the loan shark would not force his girlfriend to give up the tenancy."

Mr Davis said after the raid Bruce's girlfriend left him and he has not seen the children for four months.

Mr Davis said Bruce was throwing himself at the mercy of the court.

But Judge Guy Whitburn said: "it has to be a prison sentence for a substantial period in the light of what he did and the terror he instilled in those cashiers."

Judge Whitburn sentenced him to five years in prison.

And the judge added: "The background to this particular offence is bizarre in the extreme.

"In order to get yourself locked up you went and committed this extremely serious robbery."