An robber who fired a shotgun while grappling with two brave police officers in a garage in Birmingham has been given an indeterminate prison sentence.
The shot was fired when the officers stumbled upon Leon Morris after he and another man had robbed a pub manager at gunpoint of over £10,000.
Mr Justice Butterfield, sitting at Birmingham Crown Court, told Morris: "The brave police officers were called upon to deal with you and were faced with what must have been a desperate situation as far as they were concerned."
He sentenced Morris, 22, of Rann Close, Ladywood, to imprisonment for public protection, ordering he serve a minimum of five-and-a-half years before being considered for parole.
Morris had previously admitted two charges of robbery, two of possessing a firearm and using a firearm with intent to resist arrest.
John Harriman, 36, of no fixed address, who had pleaded guilty to robbery, two charges of possessing a shotgun when prohibited, possessing a firearm without a certificate and possessing a CS gas spray, was also sentenced to imprisonment for public protection and must remain in prison for three-and-a-half years before parole can be considered.
Peter Cooke, prosecuting, said on the morning of May 8 last year, Morris and Harriman, who were armed with a sawn-off shotgun, had burst into the Raven pub in Stechford.
After threatening the manager with the weapon as well as gratuitously spraying him in the face with CS gas, they made off with £10,814 from the safe.
Twenty minutes later police officers Richard Cundy and Gavin Blease were in an unmarked police car in Kilby Road, Ladywood, when they noticed a Rover with its engine running by a garage.
The car was driven into the garage and Pc Blease went inside where he saw Morris in the vehicle. When the officer told Morris he wanted to speak to him, the defendant reacted violently, although Pc Blease managed to pin him against the Rover.
Morris had something in his hand and, when Pc Cundy came in, he realised it was a shotgun. "During the struggle the gun went off, happily when it was pointed at the ground," said Mr Cooke.
