AN armed robbery at a Bury pub was foiled when staff and a customer tackled the robbers with glasses of beer and pool balls, Manchester Crown Court at Minshull Street was told.

John Adams, aged 28, of Scarsdale Street, Salford, was one of two men who burst into the Pack Horse in Manchester Road in November 2002, armed with a handgun and a baseball bat.

When he demanded money from the safe, bar manager Andrew Duckworth threw a pint of lager at him.

A customer then hit Adams with a pool cue. He was shot at with a handgun but, when he realised it fired blanks, he tackled Adams again.

As Adams tried to escape out of a first floor window, landlord John Lomas grabbed him and was punched and bitten on the arm. The customer then hurled a pool ball at the gunman as he ran to his getaway car.

Adam's DNA was found on a scarf close to the scene and in the bite wound. He was finally caught seven months later. Adams was jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to attempted robbery, possessing an imitation firearm and robbery. The other raider has not been caught.

Detectives also found his DNA on a soft drinks bottle found at the scene of a robbery at a clothing warehouse and it linked him to the pub raid.

The court heard none of Adams' co-accused have been brought to justice.