The Hospital Inn, Bamber Bridge, was the scene of the terrifying robbery on New Year's Eve 2007.

Police dog handler PC Katie Johnson was one of the first officers called to the scene and was blasted in the leg with a shotgun as she tried to get into the premises.

Preston Crown Court heard how career criminal Rudolph Mancini, of Division Lane, Marton, was the kingpin who planned the raid.

The court heard how Mancini used an inside man, Peter Plaskowski, who worked as a chef at the pub.

The men who carried out the robbery, Wayne McDonald, 47, from Didsbury, Manchester, and David Tyrell, 39, from Tyldesley, were found guilty of wounding with intent to resist arrest.

They were both cleared of the more serious charge of attempting to murder PC Johnson.

McDonald was also found guilty of robbery while in possession of a firearm while Tyrell had already admitted robbery and possession of a firearm.

Mancini and Plaskowski, 28, of Dean Street, Bamber Bridge, were found guilty of robbery.

The jury had deliberated for 20 hours before making their decision and all guilty verdicts were unanimous.

Landlord Tony Gornall today relived the moment he realised he was being robbed by a vicious gang. He was manhandled from his bedroom by the robbers demanding cash.

He said: "We got about 10 paces and he pistol whipped me, smashing the back of my head open. I felt blood on my neck and the back of my T-shirt. Then he took me to the office, I saw the two cleaners zip tied on the way in the bathroom.

"The little robber, who I call the wimpy one, warned I better do as the other said or he would kill me. They took me to the bathroom and zip tied me.

"The big robber was an animal. He got the shotgun in my face and put his finger on the trigger. I could even feel his breath on my face. One fright and he could have pulled the trigger."

When police arrived at the scene, PC Johnson was shot in the leg as she attempted to get inside the pub with her dog Chaos.

At the time of the attack, PC Johnson told The Gazette: "My natural reaction at the time was to challenge the offender. I'm a police officer and I joined to try and protect and help people.

"Everything happened so quickly, one minute I was at the pub, the next in an ambulance being taken the hospital.

"It must have been a horrific time for the staff. One of my first thoughts was that Chaos was OK."

The gang will be sentenced on May 15.

For more on this story, see tomorrow's Gazette