Two of the three bank security guards beaten during an armed robbery have recounted their terrifying ordeal at the hands of a masked gunman.

Randolph Spencer and his partner John Gilbert were giving evidence yesterday on the third day of the trial of Randolph Lightbourne, who faces five charges including armed robbery and two counts of unlawful wounding following the July, 1997 raid on the Somerset branch of the Bank of Butterfield. A second man, Reid Jones, has already been sentenced to seven years behind bars for his part in the heist.

Following a morning of forensic evidence given by a team of Canadian experts, Mr. Spencer, who had been working at the bank for just 18 months when the raid happened, took the stand.

He told prosecutor Patrick Doherty how the day had begun like any other until he and Mr. Gilbert drove to the Somerset branch in a security van to make a delivery, which included $70,000 cash.

It was just as the last of the 15 or so bags were being placed inside the bank that the two guards were ambushed according to Mr. Spencer.

"As soon as I got inside I heard some noise behind me,'' he said.

"Before I knew it I felt a bang upside my head and then there was darkness.

"I was hit on the back of the head and must have been out for about three minutes. The next thing I heard was girls screaming -- the tellers were screaming and making a lot of noise. I also saw John Gilbert lying on the ground inside the bank.

"For a while afterwards I just sat in a chair. I was trying to get myself together and things seemed hazy. I was dizzy for about five or six minutes afterwards.

"I had been slammed in the head and I felt it for about six weeks afterwards.'' Giving evidence, Mr. Spencer's colleague, John Gilbert, explained how he saw Mr. Spencer being struck by a large assailant.

And he was also able to recount how a third security guard had valiantly tried to fend off the attackers.

"I bent down to pick up four bags and I was in the stooped position when I heard a scuffling sound and saw a dark object passing in front of me,'' Mr.

Gilbert said. "As I looked up I saw a person dressed in all dark clothes and a black helmet with a visor. There was no part of the person that I could distinguish but it was a tall person who was six foot or over.

"I saw the individual's hand go up and come down on Mr. Spencer. As he did Mr. Spencer fell full forward -- he didn't buckle at the knees -- and lay motionless.

"As his hand came up from hitting Mr. Spencer I realised that he had something in his right hand that appeared to me to be a gun. As his back was to me I thought I had time to render some assistance and jump from behind and restrain him.

"But before I had the opportunity to do that I received a blow to the lower part of my back. Immediately thereafter I received a second blow to the same area and I fell forward.

"I could not understand because the last person I recall being behind me was my colleague and I couldn't understand how I was getting hit from behind.

"I tried to look over my left shoulder and as I did so I realised that there was a second person. Likewise he had on dark clothing and a helmet.

"While this was going on I can remember hearing a voice saying, `This is a robbery. Keep still, don't move or you'll get hurt'.

"At that time I received a third blow which was in the middle part of my back.

"At this particular point I can remember another colleague, Mr. Simmons, being in front of me and he was saying, `I am not afraid to die, I am not afraid of you and you are not going to do this'.

After being kicked in the stomach while trying to get up Mr. Gilbert noticed the third security guard being pistol whipped.

"After the kick I fell to the left but I saw that one of them had his hands into Mr. Simmons,'' he said.

"They were wrestling and I witnessed him strike Mr. Simmons to the front and upper part of the body. There was blood on his moustache and all down the front of his shirt -- it was saturated. All I could here was screaming and there was this melee as everybody tried to get out of the bank.'' Mr. Gilbert is expected to return to the witness stand when the trial resumes later today.