A jeweller has told how his mobile phone saved his life when he was shot in the chest by a hooded gunman One bullet missed Darren Prior but the robber fired a second shot as he made his getaway with £50,000 of diamond rings.

Incredibly, Mr Prior, 25, was saved when his phone absorbed the impact, leaving him in shock but unscathed, a court heard.

He said: "I heard a shot and felt the impact like a punch on my right side.

"I thought I had been shot and pulled open my jacket and looked at my shirt to see if there was any blood on it. There wasn't.

"I pulled up my shirt to see if there was any blood and then went into my jacket and realised it had hit my mobile phone." Mr Prior had bravely chased the raider as he fled from Amore Jewellers in Horsham.

He told Hove Crown Court yesterday that the gunman had walked into the jewellery shop in Piries Place as they were getting ready to close early.

Mr Prior said the robber pointed a gun at his head and ordered him to open the door to the diamond ring display in the window.

He said he got the keys but pretended he could not get it open as a delaying tactic.

Mr Prior said the gunman heard sales assistant Chris Pervis in the back of the shop and ordered him to come out. The robber then pointed the gun at Mr Pervis and threatened to shoot him in the leg unless the cabinet was opened, Mr Prior told the jury.

"He started counting down from ten. I got the right key and put it in the lock.

"He opened the door and grabbed five handfuls of rings from the cabinet and threw them in a bag.

"I was standing in the doorway and said that he was not leaving with them. He barged past me and I ended up outside the shop."

Mr Prior said he ran after the gunman to see if he was going to get into a car.

He added: "As he got to the end of Piries Place he pivoted around and fired in my direction towards the ground and ran off.

"I continued to chase him but was keeping my distance because he had a gun.

"He went down Pump Alley and I slowed down as I ran into the alley.

"I was half-way down and he was at the end. He pivoted round to face me.

"He had the gun in his right hand and and held his arm out at shoulder height.

"I could see it pointing directly at me.

"I felt trapped and there was nowhere for me to go. I stopped and stood still. I heard a shot and then felt the impact."

Richard Barton, prosecuting, said: "Because of where he was, Mr Prior had no way to escape and no means of avoiding the shot. The robber shot at him, hitting him on the right side.

"It may well be that the bullet ricocheted off the wall of the alley before hitting him.

"It penetrated his suit jacket pocket and, remarkably, instead of continuing through his body, it hit his mobile phone in his pocket.

"The impact broke the phone but mercifully it did no more than that and Mr Prior was effectively unharmed.

"It was a shot that, but for a remarkable piece of good fortune, could have killed Mr Prior."

It is alleged Sean Henry was the gunman and Timothy Cole, 30, was his getaway driver during the robbery in September 2005.

Henry was named as the gunman after CCTV footage from the robbery featured on the BBC's Crimewatch programme two months later.

A prison officer called the show to say she recognised Henry as a former inmate, even though he was wearing sunglasses and a hoodie.

She said she was "ten out of ten" certain it was him.

Mr Barton said a second prison officer, who was shown the footage separately, also identified Henry.

He alleged both men were recorded walking past the jewellery shop by CCTV cameras in Horsham town centre during "a recce" two hours before the raid.

Both men were arrested at their homes in December 2005.

The gun and jewellery were not recovered but clothing and trainers allegedly worn by Henry during the raid were found, the court was told.

They included a pair of white tracksuit bottoms given to him as a birthday present on the day of the raid.

Mr Barton said the men knew each other because prison records showed they were in the same prison in 2003 and 2004.

He alleged their movements to and from Horsham on the day of the robbery could be traced through mobile phone records.

Henry made no comment after he was arrested, the jury was told yesterday.

Cole told detectives he was visiting his sister, who ran a sandwich shop in Horsham.

Henry, of Douglas Close, Wallington, Surrey, denies attempted murder and possessing a handgun. He also denies attempting to wound Mr Prior with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and robbery.

Cole, of Squirrell Close, Langley Green, Crawley, denies robbery. The trial continues.