A ROBBER chose the wrong target when he tried to steal from a Falklands War veteran.

Newsagent Steve Baxter was alerted via the shop intercom that a raid was taking place at his shop in Chester-le-Street, County Durham.

When 25-year-old masked robber James Chadwick fled the Bullion Lane store, carrying a baseball bat, Mr Baxter followed, subdued him and and marched him back to the store. The £45 he had grabbed from the till was also recovered.

Chadwick, of Cedar Avenue, Kimblesworth, near Chester-le-Street, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after admitting robbery at Durham Crown Court.

Mr Baxter, a former warrant officer with the Royal Artillery who served in the Falklands War, the Gulf War and made 12 tours of duty in Northern Ireland, was alerted when a shop assistant shouted over the intercom.

"Judging by the urgency in her voice I realised something was wrong and I just dashed down into the shop," he said.

"The lad was already off the premises, so I went out after him. I just saw this figure ahead, and kept going, and caught up with him. I shouted to a couple of lads nearby to watch as I brought him back in case he tried to get away.

"I held him in an armlock and marched him back. We just kept him at the shop until the police came."

Mr Baxter said it was the first time there had been an attempted raid at the shop since he took over.

Jailing Chadwick, Judge Denis Orde said anyone preying on small shops and newsagents should expect to receive a prison sentence.