PLUCKY pensioner Derrick Whalley described how he was shot at point blank range - after literally giving the raiders "stick" and with his horrified wife looking on nearby.

He had gone to the offices with his 69-year-old wife Mary to pay their council tax. Mr Whalley went inside while his wife stayed by the couple's car.

"As I was coming out the office, the security guard was behind me," said the Whitefield man.

"I let him get past me and when he was four or five strides ahead, suddenly this bloke grabbed the guard round the neck and put a gun against his head, swore at him and demanded money.

"He threatened to shoot this guy. But I approached and told the gunman 'you'll shoot nobody.' I aimed my stick at one of the raiders and tried to knock the revolver out of his hand - but I missed by about half an inch.

"Then I turned to the second raider, wearing the crash helmet, and whacked him several times on the back of the neck with the stick."

However, the first armed gunman turned and fired at Mr Whalley - and the bullet grazed his arm.

He went on: "The second guy, as he was running away, turned in various directions and fired too - but thankfully I wasn't hit."

The first bullet failed to penetrate the thick coat Mr Whalley was wearing. "It hit the arm and ricocheted away. If I hadn't been wearing it, the bullet would have gone straight into my arm."

The defiant father-of-three, a diabetic who underwent double heart bypass surgery in 1989, branded the two armed men as "scum - beneath a snake's belly" and added: "I did what I did because they were attacking the young security guard. I'd do it again. I'm not afraid of people like them."

The shooting was witnessed by a horrified Mrs Whalley who looked on in terror some yards away. "I was outside the car and saw what was happening. I just couldn't believe it," she said.

Securicor are offering a £25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

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