A CARPET fitter who caught a gang of youths stealing from his van chased after them with a craft knife after driving after them, a court heard.

Raging workman James Docherty came close to being jailed for causing a frightening disturbance near a park while the young thieves got off scot-free.

Docherty ended up in the dock after he saw red in his bid to catch those who pinched a drill while working at a home in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

A judge said he had little sympathy for the light-fingered youths, but Docherty troubled him more by turning his anger on innocent members of the public.

Sitting at Teesside Crown Court, Judge Stephen Ashurst told 34-year-old father Docherty, from Redcar, east Cleveland: “You lost your cool completely.”

Docherty chased the teenagers when his customer told him what they were doing, but ended up turning his anger towards bystanders who tried to intervene.

When a concerned witness tried to calm things down, and shouted for him to stop, he yelled and swore at her, and threatened: "I'll knock your teeth out."

Her boyfriend called for him to let the youths go, but Docherty threw punches at him, grabbed his jacket and pulled him to the ground, said prosecutor Paul Newcombe.

A bystander said he was in a rage, paying no regard to others including children playing in Bullamoor Park yards away from the fracas on February 28.

The Crown accepted people had been stealing from Docherty’s van, but inquiries seemed to reach a dead end as the youths “declined to assist the police in any way”.

Docherty, of Rosedale Grove, Redcar, admitted affray, and was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 100 hours' unpaid work.

Judge Ashurst, who read a number of supportive letters, including one from Docherty's daughter, told him: “You reacted in a way that was over the top.

"It was spontaneous. You got into your vehicle to chase after the youths. I’m satisfied that the purpose was simply to retrieve your property.

“You had been the victim of a crime that has remained unsolved, largely because the youths concerned wouldn’t cooperate with the police in telling them what the truth was.

“I’m afraid I don’t have very much sympathy for the youths who had been interfering with your vehicle and property, but I have very much more sympathy for the bystanders.

“Yes, the court is sympathetic for all victims of crime, of which you were one. But I also recognise that you did lose your cool in circumstances where members of the public were quite properly alarmed and distressed by your behaviour.

Paul Abrahams, Mitigating, said Docherty worked hard to support his family and over-reacted to the situation, probably preventing the detection of the tool thieves.