A "courageous" couple who fought off armed robbers have been praised by a judge.
David and Rebecca Malpas managed to scare off a group of robbers, who were carrying axes and stopped them stealing expensive jewellery from their antiques shop, in Uppingham.
Between them, the daring duo, who own Rutland Antique Centre, in Crown Passage, fought off three masked armed men and managed to spray them with theft detection spray.
The four-man gang, Ricky Fry (26), of Hill Street, Rugby, Jadiel Williams (26), of Duddeston Manor Road, Birmingham, Eric Scott (19), of no fixed abode, and Daniel Large (25), of Hurlingham Road, Market Harborough, were later arrested and on Thursday jailed for nearly 19 years between them.
At around midday on April 19, Large entered the shop and approached a glass counter containing expensive jewellery.
The shop was full of screaming customers, including children, teenagers and pensioners.
Mr Malpas, 62, said: "A chap came in with a black mask over his face, shouting and wielding an axe.
"At first I thought it was a poor-taste practical joke.
"Suddenly he smashed the axe down on the counter and glass went everywhere.
"I shot round the counter to tackle him and pushed him out of the way."
As Mr Malpas started tackling him, Large sprayed - what seemed like pepper spray - in his eyes.
Despite this, Mr Malpas, grabbed a three metre ruler to defend himself.
"I felt this surge of anger – how dare he," said Mr Malpas.
"He had his axe raised up and was spraying stuff into my face, but fortunately my glasses prevented me from being disabled by it."
At the same time, two other men, Scott and Williams, both armed with axes - who had been hovering at the door - came running into the shop.
Mrs Malpas, 63, then threw a picture at the oncoming men and sprayed them with red criminal identification spray - a red dye that cannot be removed from clothes easily.
Soon after that, the three men fled, without any jewellery and took off in a car in which Fry had been waiting outside for them.
A nearby resident spotted the car and reported it to the police, who later arrested the men.
Mrs Malpas said: "I've never been so frightened in my life.
"They absolutely terrified us and we will never feel the same again.
"It's made us very wary of people and we used to be trusting of everyone before this."
On Thursday, in Leicester Crown Court, Judge Simon Hammond praised the couple for their brave actions.
He said they showed "incredible presence of mind" during what was a "terrifying ordeal".
The court heard that the men had sent numerous texts prior to the incident, which said they wanted it to be like an "old school, East London bank robbery."
"It was only because of their courage that the robbery failed," Mr Hammond added.
Both Mr and Mrs Malpas have said they will "never forget" what happened and have since had many "sleepless nights" following the incident.
The four men, who each said in court that they felt great remorse, were jailed for a combined total of nearly nineteen years.
Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Malpas said: "Justice has been done.
"I feel that the men have been given a good enough sentence."
The couple, who plan on retiring within the next two years, said that they have now been given "closure".
Mr Malpas added: "I'm pleased that the seriousness of what they did was recognised.
"I admit, I found the hearing hard at times but now we can move on."
