This is the moment a great-grandfather came face-to-face with three armed raiders at his home – and fought them off.

Smartly dressed after a night out, Andrew Adamson, 59, had just returned home with his wife Liz, 58, when he discovered their front door had been forced open.

Moments later, one of the thugs emerged and battered him with a 2ft crowbar, swinging so hard ‘sparks were flying off it when he hit the wall’, followed by his accomplices.

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Andrew Adamson, 59, returned home to find three burglars inside his house and bravely fought them off

The three masked intruders forced entry to his property in Kettering, Northamptonshire, in December 2010

But the raiders were not counting on Mr Adamson’s remarkable pluck.

Instead of backing down, the businessman tackled the gang head-on, eventually forcing them to retreat.

So bold were his actions that later, in court, even one of his own attackers praised Mr Adamson’s courage.

But the clock and watch repairer, who is 5ft 8in tall and weighs 19 stone, insisted: ‘I was not going to stand by and let them ransack my house – I did what any good husband would do.

‘I wanted to protect my home and my wife. They say an Englishman’s home is his castle but I acted on instinct.’

The CCTV footage from the entrance to the house in Kettering, Northamptonshire – which also shows the thugs breaking in before the couple arrive – led to one being identified and handed a lengthy jail term. Another has been jailed after he was arrested for a separate offence and DNA was matched to a balaclava Mr Adamson snatched off him in the fight.

The gang got away with £400 cash and the briefcase Mr Adamson had been carrying.

Mr Adamson, who has three children, four grandchildren and a great-grandchild, told of the moment he arrived home.

He said: ‘The next thing we know the chap comes out with the iron bar. Sparks were flying off it when he hit the wall, he was really trying to whack me. I was trying to force him off.

‘I followed them out onto the street and I got hold of the other fella but the taller assailant came back for him and pulled a razor out, so I decided that was the time to let go.

Mr Adamson returned home from a social event dressed in his dinner suit and carrying a briefcase when he noticed the door of his home had been forced open. CCTV footage captured the struggle which followed

The father-of-three didn't let the fact the intruders were armed with crowbars stop him from trying to fight them

At one point one of the intruders even pulled out a razor blade, but Mr Adamson fought them until they ran off

Mr Adamson tried to protect himself from the crowbar wielding intruders (left) before fighting them off (right)

Liz Adamson (left) was also caught up in the incident but fled to get help when she realised they were being attacked. She had been the first to enter the property but it was her husband who defended them from danger

Brave Mr Adamson managed to take on all three of the intruders one-by-one until they fled the property

‘I got hit several times over the side of the head and had to have seven stitches. I was bleeding like a stuck pig.

‘If my wife had been on her own that night I dread to think what would have happened.’ The 87-second clip from December 18, 2010, enabled police to identify Duncan Berry, from Kettering, now 23.

He admitted aggravated burglary at Northampton Crown Court and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in 2011. This year a DNA check linked David Jarvie, 53, to a balaclava at Mr Adamson’s home.

Jarvie, also of Kettering, admitted aggravated burglary and actual bodily harm and was jailed for five-and-a-half years on August 28.

Jarvie’s defence barrister William Fanshaw, told the court that even his client was amazed at Mr Adamson’s courage: ‘He says himself that the victim was a very brave man to stand up to a whole group of men, some of whom were armed.’

Mrs Adamson, who raced to get help during the raid, said: ‘I didn’t find out until I watched the CCTV what Andy had done. I am very proud of him.’

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘He’s a very polite man – not the sort you expect to take on three yobs. What he did was amazing.’

Grandfather-of-four and father-of-three Mr Adamson said: 'I was not just going to let them stand by and ransack my house - I did what any good husband would do. I wanted to protect my home and protect my wife'