A STUDENT who fled a jewellery shop empty handed after the owner struck back with a baseball bat has been warned he faces jail.
Benjamin Barton, aged 18, tried to hold up the Coopers Jewellers in Barnstaple's High Street with an imitation pistol but was foiled by the courage of shopkeeper David Bruce.
Mr Bruce, aged 71, is a judo black belt and responded to the raid by picking up a baseball bat and hitting Barton across the wrists as he pointed his gun at him.
Barton, of Clovelly Road,...
