A burglary victim ‘took the law into his own hands’ and violently beat the perpetrator when he broke his leg jumping out of the window when he was caught red-handed.

Luke Jackson punched, kicked and stamped on his victim as he discovered him prone on the ground outside his Darlington home.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the burglar, Shane Preston, suffered immediate retribution from his victim before being jailed for four years for his offence.

Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, said two eye-witnesses saw the 32-year-old attack the man as he lay on the floor following the burglary on May 17, 2021.

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He said the defendant came home and disturbed Preston while he was in the middle of burgling his address before his failed attempt to flee the scene by jumping out of the window.

Mr Newcombe said: “He kicked the complainant in the face, this caused him to fall onto his back and the defendant then rained down a number of blows.

“One witness said there was no stopping it and it looked like he was intent on causing him great harm. Another witness saw him hitting the complainant with great force, kicking him and stamping on his head.

“The injuries suffered by the complainant corresponded with the description of the attack.”

Jackson, of Park Lane, Darlington, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Paul Abrahams, mitigating, said his client was not in a ‘great mental state’ at the time of the attack but accepted that he had gone too far.

He added: “It was a nasty attack and he clearly lost control when he found the burglar in his house.”

The Northern Echo: Shane PrestonShane Preston

Recorder Thomas Moran sentenced Jackson to 12-months in custody, suspended for two years.

He said: “You took the law into your own hands when you came home to find him burgling your house – that was extreme provocation for you, because to come home to find someone breaking into your house is very upsetting for you.

“He jumped from the first-floor window and broke his leg and was incapacitated but that didn’t stop you from punching, kicking and stamping on him.”

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Jackson was given a two-year community order with conditions that he carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, attend a Thinking Skills course and perform 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Preston was sentenced to four years in prison after admitting a string of burglaries, including the one on Jackson’s home on Park Lane, in December 2021.

He was also charged with two further burglaries which happened in Beaconsfield Street on May 16, and Merrybent on November 18, 2021.