Marian Bates co-owned the Time Centre

Marian Bates, 64, was later shot in the chest as she tried to protect her daughter from armed raiders, Stafford Crown Court heard.

One witness said she saw one of the men pull on a pair of gloves as he sped to the shop in Arnold on 30 September.

Peter Williams, 18, of no fixed address, denies murder.

Dominique Pike, who lives in Arnold, said in a statement read to the jury, that she saw two people on a moped, which drove up the street before stopping at a junction.

Marian Bates was shot in the chest

"As the moped went down the road, the rider was putting on washing-up type gloves on both hands," she said.

The court heard that the unnamed gunman, who called his 64-year-old victim a "silly cow", then escaped on a scooter with his accomplice.

Gregory Dickinson, QC, prosecuting, told the jury on Thursday: "Peter Williams was one of the robbers, one of the two who went into the store.

"He was not the man who pulled the trigger but he was a party to the murder. The identity of the gunman remains uncertain."

Witness Lance Steven and his friend, Leo Commons, also spotted the Gilera scooter and saw a man donning gloves as it was driven down the road.

Mr Williams was later identified by another witness as the pillion passenger on the scooter allegedly used in the raid.

Williams also denies charges of conspiracy to rob the Time Centre, possessing a firearm with intent and causing grievous bodily harm to Victor Bates on 30 September 2003.