A thief was chased down the street and given 'a good pasting' by an angry window cleaner after he was caught breaking into his van in the middle of the night.
Barry Frost was knocked to the ground and suffered bruising after being followed through the streets of Exeter in the middle of the night as he was out looking for cars to steal from.
Window cleaner Adrian Cowell was woken by his car alarm and saw Frost fleeing down the street. He made a citizen's arrest after seeing him smashing the side window of another car nearby.
Frost, aged 43, of Smythen Street, Exeter, admitted two offences of attempted theft from motor vehicles and was jailed for four months, suspended for a year and ordered to receive drug rehabilitation as part of 12 months supervision.
Miss Janice Eagles, prosecuting, said Mr Cowell was awoken at his home when Frost broke into his van in Buddle Lane and the alarm went off.
He looked out of his window and saw Frost leaving and got up and followed him to Barley Mount where he detained him as he broke into a Kia.
Miss Eagles said:"Mr Cowell accused the defendant of breaking the window of his van and Frost lunged at him. Mr Cowell struck him twice and the police were called."
The van cost £200 to repair and the Kia £72 and Miss Eagles said Frost has 26 convictions for tampering with cars.
Mr Adrian Chaplin, defending, said Frost had not offended for some time before these thefts but had slipped back into crime and is now keen to address the underlying problems in his life.
He said:"During this incident my client received what some might say was an entirely justified pasting."
Judge Phillip Wassall told him:"The fact is you were caught in the process of breaking the windows of vehicles and were ultimately given a beating when you were apprehended.
"I cannot condone that sort of action but frankly it is one of the risks you take when you decide to break into somebody's vehicle.
"You have pages of convictions and a background in the car trade. These sort of offences cause considerable distress to people when they come out in the morning and find their windows have been damaged. It is a blight."
