An armed robber who struck at jewellers across the region met his match when the fearless owners of one of them fought him off.

Daniel Smith, of Old Trafford, tried to take a bracelet from Abelsons Jewellers in the city centre while armed with a claw hammer.

The fearless owners, Elise Abelson and Malcolm Abelson, both of whom are in their 70s, fought him off and left him empty-handed.

Smith, 38, escaped but without a number of items which detectives used to link him to the crime scene.

Around two months earlier, the armed robber struck at Christopher Brown, another jewellers in Stockport's Merseyway Shopping Centre.

He propped the door open with a brick in a bag then pressed a weapon to a worker to take a necklace worth thousands from the jewellers.

He was arrested a short time after the incident in the city centre and charged with armed robbery, attempted armed robbery and the possession of an offensive weapon, all of which he admitted at magistrates' court.

At Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court this week he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

Detective Constable Phillip Sargeant, GMP  said: "Had it not been for the resistance Elise and Malcolm put up against Smith, we might never have recovered items.

"These were exhibits which directly and forensically linked Smith to the crime scene. With the support of Christopher Brown and Abelson Jewellers, police arrested Smith for a string of robberies as a suspect who targeted established family-owned jewellers and exploited their security."

In a statement Elise Abelson, of Abelsons Jewellers, said: "Smith woke up one morning and planned to steal our goods, he had absolutely no regard for our safety or our wellbeing when he came at us with a claw hammer.

"He must have thought we were an easy target because we were old, but for somebody to get out of bed and rob an elderly couple running a jewellers, well let's just say my kids would never dream of doing such a thing."

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.