Dramatic CCTV footage has been released of a shopkeeper leaping on an axe-wielding raider before his wife burst the prolific offender's nose with a baseball bat.

Ex-juvenile offender Shaun Andrew McKerry, dubbed Boomerang Boy or Homing Pigeon Boy in his youth, picked the wrong target when he burst into Shildon Post Office and Stores, County Durham, at 8pm on March 15. He pleaded guilty at Durham Crown Court, via videolink from prison, to attempted robbery, a court official confirmed. He will be sentenced on April 24.