POLICE and prosecutors faced a storm of criticism last night after a father who performed a citizen's arrest on two teenagers was cleared of assault.

Father-of-three Mark Fenwick was charged over confronting a group of youths after a slab of concrete was thrown through a window of his Middlesbrough home.

Last night, after a jury took only 20 minutes to clear him of assaulting the two teenagers who made allegations against him, the decision to bring the case to court was branded a national disgrace.

Critics, including former police chief Lord Mackenzie, called for common sense to be used when dealing with cases of people defending their property.

Lord Mackenzie, a retired County Durham police chief and now a Government advisor on law and order, said: "He should have got a commendation, not a prosecution."

Mr Fenwick was hauled through the courts after he rounded up suspected trouble-makers and handed them to police on "mischief night" - October 30 - last year.

The 34-year-old has been on trial for three days, but yesterday he walked free after a jury cleared him of hurting the teenagers.

Following the unanimous verdict, a relieved Mr Fenwick hugged his tearful wife in the public gallery, but refused to discuss the case as he left.

A North-East Euro MP condemned the decision to bring charges for what he and Lord Mackenzie described as an act of public duty.

Conservative MEP Martin Callanan told The Northern Echo: "We should be hailing him as a hero, not prosecuting him. This is exactly the kind of case that should never be brought."

Lord Mackenzie, the former president of the Superintendents' Association, blamed the police for being too afraid to overlook such allegations, and accused them of being "agents for the anti-social elements".

"The police seem to have this attitude now of not wanting to take a risk," he said.

"We seem to have an adverse society, and they say 'we will not put our head on the block and will pass this to the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service)'.

"The CPS have the same attitude and rely on the courts - the jury - to make the decision, but they seem to forget that the poor guy has to go through hell for a year, not knowing if he is going to prison or not.

"It is an absolute disgrace.

"If the police would apply a bit of common sense, reasonable force means reasonable force, and juries invariably acquit, so they should look at cases like this and learn.

"The police should not be agents for the anti-social elements of society and should not be placed right in the middle of situations like this - where any benefit of doubt should be given to the householder.

"If the people who are complaining want to take matters further they should take out private prosecutions, but the police should not be acting as agents for them."

The Taxpayers Alliance also criticised Cleveland Police and the CPS for pursuing the case against Mr Fenwick, who had never been in trouble before. Spokesman Matthew Sinclair said: "The police have been exposed for persecuting a have-a-go hero, and have again let the public down.

"We don't know how much taxpayers' money has been spent on this ludicrous case, but previous nonsense prosecutions have cost thousands of pounds."

Mr Fenwick and a neighbour chased a gang of 30 missile-throwing youths after a paving slab was hurled through a window at his home in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough.

The men caught some of the suspects and handed them to police, but Mr Fenwick was arrested a month later after the teenagers said he had assaulted them.

Sergeant Charlie Bell, of the Cleveland Police neighbourhood policing team, said: "Although people have the right to defend their homes and property, they must do so with reasonable force, according to the specific circumstances they find themselves in.

"In this case, police were contacted with allegations of assault and we were duty-bound to investigate these claims.

"A thorough investigation took place before we presented all the facts to the CPS and they deemed the matter should go before the court."

A statement from the CPS said: "This was an allegation of assault by a man armed with a wooden pole against youths whom he believed had damaged his home.

"We considered medical evidence and photographs of the injuries in making our decision that the case should go to court.

"There was no evidence to show the youths he caught had been involved in the incident or had committed any offence."

Although Judge Peter Armstrong did not comment after the case, in a legal discussion during the proceedings he said: "The legality of anyone chasing or getting hold of youths in the street who may have done something is perhaps a matter for legal discussion elsewhere."

Neighbours of Mr Fenwick last night spoke out in his support and talked about life on their estate on "mischief night" - described by one police officer as the worst time of the year in Middlesbrough.

Resident Paul Eastwood, 44, said: "The guy did right as far as I am concerned. I would have done exactly the same thing."

Claire Watkins said: "The man was just trying to protect his family, and no one can blame him for that."

Middlesbrough councillor Barbara Dunne, 61, said: "All he was doing was standing up for himself and protecting his property. There is no way this should ever have come to court."

Mr Fenwick's lawyer, Robert Mochrie, said after the case: "His actions were entirely legitimate. They were borne out of his justifiable intolerance of the wanton criminality of those youths responsible for the disturbances that evening."