A notorious criminal was at the heart of a controversial court case last week when he was the victim of a beating doled out by a man whose home he had just burgled.

Shane Preston was punched, kicked and stamped on by Luke Jackson when he broke his ankle jumping out of a window in a desperate attempt to flee the scene of his latest crime.

In December 2021, he was locked up for four years for the burglary but this was not his first brush with the law.

As a 14-year-old he was issued with the toughest anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) after tormenting residents throughout Darlington by riding motorbikes on the footpaths, abusing people and violently attacking people.

Read more: Darlington man attacked burglar after he broke his leg jumping out of window

His erratic and criminal behaviour resulted in the council delivering leaflets through the letterboxes of thousands of homes in the town in 2014 to alert residents that they were tackling his behaviour.

The Northern Echo: Shane PrestonShane Preston

As part of the four-year ASBO, the troublesome teenager was banned from entering the Skerne Park area of the town but within days of it being imposed he was arrested.

He was also banned from kicking or throwing footballs against any property or vehicle and from taking or interfering with property or riding motorbikes.

Following a further three arrests for breaching his ASBO, Preston found himself locked up at Aycliffe Centre for Children, in Newton Aycliffe, near Darlington.

The Northern Echo: Shane Preston making the headlines in 2007Shane Preston making the headlines in 2007

The following year it looked like he was starting to make progress and two of his stringent conditions were relaxed as he attempted to turn his life around.

However, it wasn’t long before he was back in court after he held a knife to the throat of his then-partner.

As a 19-year-old he was locked away for 13 months after a court heard how he then hit his girlfriend several times in the face, perforating her eardrum, while her young daughter screamed in terror.

His conviction came less than 18-months after his ASBO coming to an end.

By 2011, he had committed a string of offences across the Darlington area, including burglaries on houses, sheds and garages.

The Northern Echo: Shane Preston in 2017Shane Preston in 2017

He was locked up for 20-months after admitting carrying out the two-year campaign of criminality including raiding a house in Blackwell Lane and escaping with a £6,300 haul of goods.

Following his release from prison he managed to keep himself out of trouble before returning to his nefarious activities when he was caught red-handed hiding stolen goods down his trousers.

He then later confessed to a further four burglaries, eight thefts and one attempted burglary, and asked them to be taken into consideration when he was sentenced in September 2017.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, jailed him for two years and four months, and told him: “There was a gap between 2014 and this year, but then a spate of offending by you in the middle part of this year. I don’t know what went wrong.”

The Northern Echo: Shane Preston in 2021Shane Preston in 2021

Preston was back in trouble again in May 2021 when he broke his ankle when he jumped out of a window of the house he was burgling on Park Lane, Darlington.

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

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Preston appeared at Teesside Crown Court in December 2021 where he pleaded guilty to the offences and was jailed for four years.

And it was his raid on the Park Lane home which created a lot of debate on The Northern Echo website and Facebook page after people spoke out in support of the victim when he landed himself in court after doling out some summary justice.

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

Jackson, of Park Lane, Darlington, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after he ‘took the law into his own hands’.

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.”