By Richard Cull

The manager of a Belfast bookmakers is recovering after being shot with a stun gun during an early morning attempted robbery.

UTV has obtained exclusive footage of the woman being attacked by a man who pounced on her after hiding above a ceiling.

The CCTV film shows the frightening moment the brave shop manager is confronted by a masked man armed with a stun gun demanding money.

The attacker repeated pushes his victim - but she fights back and as she does is shot twice with the weapon.

Kevin Devenney from McLean Bookmakers said: “She was totally intimidated, this sort of thing you just don’t expect to happen - falling from the ceiling.”

Before the attempted robbery the woman can be seen getting ready to open the bookmakers on the Woodstock Road at about 9am on Friday.

Then, to her horror, the man who crept in brazenly drops from the ceiling, breaking the tiles and grabs her.

“Obviously this was well planned, he’s been up there some time,” said Mr Devenney.

“It’s unbelievable what happened, but panic buttons were pressed and police were called in quite a short time so he was lucky to get away.”

Credit: UTV

The would-be robbery is believed to be about six feet tall - wearing a black balaclava, navy sweatshirt, black trousers and carrying a navy holdall.

Police want anyone who saw suspicious activity in the area to contact them.

The man was in the bookmakers for around two minutes and was unable to get his hands on any cash, mainly because of the manager's actions.

He made his getaway through a back door and down an alleyway.

The bookmakers has now reopened and despite her ordeal, the woman spent the day at work.