A former soldier is facing jail after he was caught on CCTV attacking a grandmother with an axe during a terrifying robbery.
Dramatic footage captured Neil Gordon, 41, bursting into Craven Street Stores in Melton Mowbray, Leics, before leaping over the counter and trapping 65-year-old cashier Sue Thomas behind the till.
But fearless owner Ann Sage, 68, confronted the hooded thug and told him ‘You don’t frighten me, I’m calling the police’.
As the grandmother-of-13 tried to dial 999, Gordon, who suffers from PTSD following his time in the armed forces, grabbed her by the arm, threw her to the floor then smashed her over the head with a hatchet.
Frightening: Former soldier Neil Gordon is facing jail after he was caught on CCTV attacking a grandmother with an axe during a terrifying robbery (pictured)
Thug: This shocking footage shows thug Neil Gordon, 41, storm into the store and jump over the counter before trapping cashier Sue Thomas, 65, behind the till
Fearless shop owner Ann Sage, 68, confronted the hooded man, telling him: ‘You don’t frighten me, I’m calling the police’
Blood-soaked Mrs Sage, who has owned the shop with husband Richard for 30 years, then chased the robber down the street in a desperate bid to stop him escaping on March 1.
But Gordon was able to force Mrs Thomas to open the till, before making off in his blue Ford Fiesta with £300 in cash.
The thug, of Melton Mowbray, Leics., was arrested after members of the public pinned him down as he attempted to rob a different store on March 4.
Gordon admitted robbery and being in possession of a bladed weapon at Leicester Crown Court on Monday.
He also pleaded guilty to attempting to rob a female employee at another shop earlier on the day after also admitting to stealing tobacco from the other store on March 4.
Judge Ebraham Mooncey ordered that a number of other previous offences lie on file and the thug was remanded in custody for sentencing on October 6.
Phil Gibbs, defending, said: ‘This man was formerly in the armed forces and was discharged suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Hooded Gordon (pictured) burst into Craven Street Stores in Melton Mowbray, Leics, armed with an axe
As Ann Sage (pictured) tried to dial 999, robber Neil Gordon threw her to the floor before smashing her over the head with an axe
‘I would like to read a psychiatric report carried out on Mr Gordon in 2009 and to get a look at his armed services record before any sentence is passed.’
Mrs Sage was rushed to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre shortly after the incident at 5.14pm on March 1.
She said: ‘I’m so relieved that he has admitted to what he has done.
‘For months, we’ve been facing the trauma of having to look him in the eye again and give evidence in a trial.
Brave: Mrs Sage, who has run the shop with her husband Richard for 30 years, said of Gordon: ‘He’s just a low life – he’s scum’
Injury: The terrified grandmother ran out of the store with blood dripping from her head in a bid to stop the crook from escaping on March 1
‘Now that we don’t have to do that, it’s a massive relief.
‘It looks as though he’s going to be locked up, and from our perspective we’re going to be able to sleep at night knowing that he can’t find us again.
‘Physically I have recovered from what happened, but it does affect you psychologically.
‘Every Wednesday at around 5pm I start to get nervous, as that was when it happened.
‘Whenever someone comes into the store that I don’t recognise, or if a youngster comes in in a hooded jumper, I start to panic.
Ann and Richard Sage (pictured) own Craven Street Stores in Melton Mowbray, Leics. Former soldier Neil Gordon carried out a terrifying raid at the shop
‘It’s going to take some time to recover from that.
‘He’s just a low life – he’s scum.
‘On the day I heard Mrs Thomas shouting: “No, no,” as I was in the back getting my coat to leave and so I just charged out into the front of the shop.
‘He was stood over her with the axe, threatening her – he had her trapped.
‘I think it was the adrenaline, I just stared straight at him and said: “You don’t frighten me, I’m going to call the police”.
‘But as I started on the phone he came after me. He pushed me to the ground, and brought the axe down into my head.
‘With that he went back behind the counter and continued to threaten Mrs Thomas. I picked myself up and ran out into the street with blood dripping everywhere.
‘Someone starting dialling 999 when he came out of the shop and ran towards his car. I don’t know why but I ran after him.
‘I managed to get someone on the other side of the road to get his number plate before he sped off.’
Anne, who has three children, was left needing her gash glued back together and suffered severe bruising on her hip and knee from the fall.
Husband Richard, 70, said: ‘We didn’t think Mrs Thomas would come back to work after that, but she did.
‘This is a quiet area, in all our 30 years we have never heard anything like this happen.
‘We are very vulnerable, we are not a fortress. You just don’t think people do those sorts of things around here.’
Neil Gordon, 41, is facing jail after targeting Craven Street Stores in Melton Mowbray, Leics (pictured)