A NAKED householder tackled a burglar when he woke in the dead of night to discover his home was being raided.

The man jumped from his bed, chased Andrew Sorby downstairs and put the intruder in a headlock, a court heard.

He then threw the 35-year-old out of a side door - and he was arrested when police saw him staggering along a road.

The home-owner had earlier dialled 999 when he heard noises in his home in Millston Close, Hartlepool, at 2.20am.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Sorby shouted to an accomplice to flee - but the second raider has never been caught.

When Sorby was detained, he had a camera and an e-reader stuffed inside his jacket, said prosecutor Harry Hadfield.

He told police as he was tackled to the ground: "I should've gone home. I thought we were just going to be taking some plant pots.

"I've got some gear on me that's going to break . . . it's up my top and it's going to break."

The court heard that Sorby had 43 offences on a record that goes back to 2001, and mainly includes shoplifting.

Paul Cleasby, mitigating, said: "He acknowledges the seriousness of this offence and is shameful for committing it.

"He has no previous convictions for house burglary, so this is an offence for him which is very much out of character.

"Although there was a struggle, there was no violence offered by this defendant to the householder. It was more the householder trying to restrain him."

Sorby, of York Road, Hartlepool, admitted the September 5 burglary and was jailed for ten months.

Mr Cleasby said his client was disappointed because he had been making good progress on a probation order he was under.

He said Sorby had swapped a previous "chaotic" lifestyle with no settled accommodation for a much more stable life.

Judge Tony Briggs told Sorby: "Those who break into the houses of others in the dead of night and confront them must expect custody.

"It was in the early hours, there was a confrontation and you were not alone. All of this would have made it extremely disturbing.

"You were out an a dishonest expedition of some sort, and you went to someone's house after two in the morning."