OAP gives burglar stick

AN 84-year-old pensioner confronted a burglar in her home and hit him with a walking stick while her daughter grabbed hold of him.

Heroin addict Leon Ingram, 34, was so keen to get away from Doris Thiele and her daughter, Helen, he headbutted a glass window to make his escape, but the trail of blood led to his arrest.

He was jailed for three years at Southampton Crown Court on January 14 after admitting burglary and wrote a letter of apology, the Southern Daily Echo reported yesterday.

Mrs Thiele and her daughter were asleep at their home in New Milton, Hampshire, when Mrs Thiele woke up and saw a light on. She got up and was confronted by Ingram and the eight-minute scuffle started.

“I decided to stand my ground but screamed when he came towards me,” she said. “My daughter rushed out of her room and put her arm around his neck. He kept shouting ‘wrong house, let me go’, but I grabbed my father’s walking stick and kept hitting him.”

The pair were subsequently given a police bravery award for their actions.