Elderly couple tackle burglar raiding neighbour's home

The pair – in their 70s – went to investigate after hearing loud bangs and the sound of breaking glass, a judge was told.

They found a broken kitchen window and a door left wide open at the address in Crowther Road, Whitmore Reans.

When the husband and wife went into the house to check if it had been raided they came face to face with William Dimmock who had just broken in, explained Mr Graeme Simpson, prosecuting.

The husband was pushed to the ground but managed to hold onto the legs of the 24-year-old burglar while his wife hit Dimmock over the head with the mobile phone on which she called the police.

The crook punched her in the face and fled empty handed leaving behind two computers that he had put into a bag ready to steal.

He also lost a glove during the struggle with the have-a-go neighbours which provided police with a major breakthrough in the hunt for the culprit.

DNA from the glove matched that of the defendant, who had several previous convictions, and was arrested four days after the April 11 break in.

Dimmock was jailed for 18 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

The elderly couple were bruised but not badly hurt.

Mr Frederick Powell, defending, said Dimmock was in the throes of a drug addiction and had targeted the address completely at random.

"He had run up a drug debt and wanted to pay it off," explained the lawyer.

The defendant from Edward Street, Dudley pleaded guilty to burglary and was jailed by Judge Amjad Nawaz who commented: "A public spirited couple intervened to safeguard the premises of one of their neighbours.

"No doubt you were not really interested in hurting them but just wanted to get away from the scene.

"All they had done was to help secure the premises of a neighbour but during the struggle you dropped a glove that led to your arrest."