A HAVE-A-GO hero who bravely took on an armed gunman in a violent struggle near Canterbury's Morrisons supermarket told a jury how the incident destroyed his life.

Gym instructor David Bowles was unloading shopping, as Tomas Uptas sat nearby, drinking beer.

Uptas, 32, is alleged to have strangled his own girlfriend, Loreta Raupiene, 46, in their flat in Victoria Road, Wincheap.

Mr Bowles told a hushed jury at Maidstone Crown Court: "I saw him approach me. I thought he was just a drinker who wanted small change.

"Suddenly he was right close, I couldn't get away. He put a gun to my head and asked me to take him to 'F***ing Morrisons'.

"I could feel the barrel of the gun. I could smell the drink, he was grimy and dirty, and slightly incoherent.

"I tried to knock the gun away and grab his hands. I managed to grab hold of him and forced him up against the wall of a house.

"I was trying to get the gun out of his hand. I was really angry. I thought he was trying to shoot me.

"He wasn't easy to get hold of, his hands were slippy.

"The whole time he was trying to point the gun at a part of my body.

"He had it in my face, my mouth, my stomach, my legs."

Migrant fruit packer Uptas, a Lithuanian national, denies strangling his girlfriend to death on November 26 last year but has admitted two gun offences on the same day.

Mr Bowles who is in his 30s, added: "I tried to calm him down. But there was no change in the way he was.

"I couldn't let go of him, he carried on struggling. It seemed like a long time. There was no one in the street.

"I remember banging his head against a window but the people inside just shut the curtains.

"I hoped they would ring the police.

"In the end, he was just as exhausted as me and wanted to get away. I pushed him away but I thought he was going to shoot me.

"I was waiting for the noise. I was too tired to run. I just walked away but the noise didn't come."

Mr Bowles added: "It has changed my life. I have nightmares.

"As a result of this, I have lost my family. It has done me some big damage."

The court heard Uptas then made his own way to Morrisons, pointing the gun at people including a 12-year-old girl. No shots were fired.

Armed police raced to the supermarket where horrified shoppers were scattering.

Mr Uptas, who was sitting in an aisle drinking wine, was shot in the arm as he lifted the gun and took aim at an officer. He was taken to hospital.

The body of his girlfriend was found at 1am, strangled with her own red scarf.

Mum-of-three Naomi Barnes said she had seen Uptas arguing with Loreta in the street earlier.

"She was shouting at him and he was shouting at her. It was such a kerfuffle," she said.

A few hours later, Loreta was dead.

She had already sent a text message to a friend, which said: "My account is empty. I am doing very badly, I haven't a cent nor a flat. Tomas is an animal and not a human being."

The case continues.