A masked robber has been found guilty of taking part in an ammonia attack on a shopkeeper who was almost blinded as his takings were snatched.

Victim Neil Warner feared he was going to die or lose his sight when he was ambushed by robbers Rikki Ward and Paul Rowntree as he walked from a shop in Dawlish to a nearby Post Office with £5,129.90 in cash.

Ward sprayed undiluted ammonia into his face while Rowntree grabbed a bag which contained the takings from the Costcutter shop during the attack on The Strand in Dawlish on January 20 this year.

Mr Warner suffered partial blindness in one eye but would probably have lost his sight but for the quick thinking of passers-by, who took him into an optician’s shop were staff were able to wash out some of the ammonia.

They both fled up a side alley and through gardens before being picked up by a friend and driven to a country lane at nearby Ashcombe where they threw their jackets, masks and gloves out of the window into a hedge.

Ward’s DNA was found on the discarded ammonia bottle and he admitted his part in the raid but Rowntree denied being involved.

He was found guilty after a jury at Exeter Crown Court was shown CCTV of him laying in wait for Mr Warner before the attack. The footage showed him wearing a Berghaus jacket which was found at Ashcombe and contained his DNA.

Getaway driver Ross Morton claimed he had no idea his two passengers had just carried out a robbery but was found guilty after phone evidence showed he had gone through Ashcombe and CCTV showed him going on a £300 shopping spree with the robbers after driving them to Torquay.

Ward, aged 28, of Chatham Road, Sunderland, has admitted robbery and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Rowntree, aged 37, of Oswald Street, Sunderland, but who was staying at Exeter Road, Dawlish, denied but was convicted of robbery and GBH with intent.

Morton, aged 29, of Gatehouse Close, Dawlish, denied but was found guilty of assisting an offender.

They will all be sentenced later by Judge Geoffrey Mercer, QC, who remanded all of them in custody.

During a nine-day trial Mr Warner told of his terror in a video-recorded police interview which was shown to the jury.

The 58-year-old said he was just yards from the post office when he was attacked by a man wearing a balaclava who rushed at him.

He said: ‘I saw he was wearing a black balaclava with eye holes in it. I stopped. I thought he was going to run into me. Then I noticed he had a bottle. It was a white bottle which he squirted straight into my face.

‘Everything went black and there was an awful pain in my eyes and mouth. I did not realise what had happened. I was stood there screaming. I must have just dropped the bag.

‘I was totally blind and the pain was just unbearable. I remember being led in to the optician and asking if I still had a face left.’

‘It was so traumatic. I have a heart condition and thought I was going to have a heart attack. I thought I would never see my wife and boy again.

‘I thought I would never see again. They were still flushing my eyes when the police arrived and the pain was still unbearable.

‘All I can remember of the man was a sort Ninja figure like something from a film with a balaclava. He had a white bottle and within a second everything was black and the pain was excruciating.

‘As soon as the liquid hit me, everything blacked out. This happened in broad daylight and it was only a five minute walk to the post office.’