A 33-year-old man who brandished a toy gun and and an axe when he tried to rob a Colchester post office has been jailed for three years and four months.

Shaun Collier’s raid was foiled by the brave owner of Shrub End Post Office and his wife who managed to overpower and then detain him with the help of neighbours and members of the public until police arrived, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Jailing Collier, Judge John Devaux said that although the storekeeper Sailesh Patel realised the gun was a toy, there was no evidence that his wife Bina knew it was not real when she intervened.

“She showed considerable courage,” said the judge.

Collier, of Lugar Close, Colchester, admitted possessing an imitation firearm and having an offensive weapon in a public place.

He also admitted attempting to rob Mr Patel on November 7 last year and being in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed last year for burglary.

Carolyn Gardiner, prosecuting, said Mr Patel had been serving a customer at 9.30am when he noticed Collier, who was wearing a long black coat and a hooded top, come into the premises.

Collier was fiddling with a bag and when Mr Patel asked what he wanted, Collier said: “I’ve got an axe in my bag. I want all the money”.

He had also told him he had a gun but when Mr Patel saw it in his hand he realised it was only a toy, said Miss Gardiner.

Collier, who by now had taken a small axe out of his bag, had then pushed Mr Patel towards the Post Office part of the store and started grabbing bank notes from the till.

Mrs Patel had then arrived on the scene and she had tackled Collier by pushing him and grabbing his arm.

She and her husband had then restrained Collier outside the post office with the help of a neighbour and passers-by until the police arrived.

Paul Donegan, for Collier, said his client suffered from an anxiety disorder and had been on the prison health care wing since his remand in custody in November.