A proud homeowner who helped perform citizens' arrests on three suspected trouble-makers was later prosecuted for assaulting them. But Mark Fenwick left court yesterday with his unblemished record intact after a Crown Court jury cleared him. Neil Hunter recalls the worst day of the businessman's life.

MONDAY, October 30, 2006 is a day Mark Fenwick will never forget - for all the wrong reasons. The day was already unbearably stressful as he and his wife waited to hear news about one of their three children.

It was feared their son had a tumour. He had been for tests, and the couple were anxiously awaiting the results.

In an effort to take his mind off the boy's health problems, Mr Fenwick was decorating a room of their home.

He knew it was "mischief night" - when gangs of youths congregate and run amok - but nothing prepared him for what was to come.

A concrete paving slab smashed through a roof window in the room and landed close to where his children would usually play.

Mr Fenwick, who runs a building firm, rushed through his patio doors to see if he could see who was responsible for the vandalism.

The 34-year-old was confronted by a gang of 30 young yobs armed with sticks, bricks and stones, all intent on trouble.

Under a barrage of missiles, Mr Fenwick heard one member of the baying group yell: "Come on, he's on his own . . . let's give him a f***ing kicking."

He says he "took check of what was happening", went back inside, and told his wife to call the police.

He started to follow the gang in his car once they backed away and, soon afterwards, saw them smashing windows at nearby homes.

At times reluctant to get involved fearing for his own safety, Mr Fenwick did what he thought was right and tried to apprehend some of the yobs.

With neighbour David Lawson, he followed the gang across fields near their homes in Coulby Newham, Middlesbrough, and caught three boys.

When the police arrived in the area, the two men handed over the suspected vandals and they were taken to be questioned about what had happened.

Once at the police station, however, one of them, aged 13, claimed he had been strangled and hit with a stick.

Another, a 15-year-old, said he had been punched in the face after Mr Fenwick rugby tackled him to the ground.

A month later, Mr Fenwick - never before in trouble with the police - was arrested on suspicion of assault.

"That was as big a shock as anything I have ever had in my life," Mr Fenwick said. "I feel upset that it has ended up in court.

"I have had a dark cloud hanging over us for a year, waiting for this to be resolved, with the added pressure of my son being ill.

"It has not been a good year."

Recalling his brave decision to tackle the armed gang, Mr Fenwick admitted he picked up a stick to use should he need to escape. He maintained throughout his trial that he threw the pole away once the gang split up, and he and Mr Lawson were able to catch some of them.

"There was a large number of these yobs who had been causing a lot of damage through the streets.

"When you are dealing with such a large number of yobs, you don't know what they are capable of, so I was apprehensive about what I was walking into.

"I believed this gang of lads was just on the rampage and they didn't care whose house they would stone, or who they would hurt - to them it was just some sort of twisted fun.

"I thought what we had done was stop them going on to cause more damage to other people's homes. I felt as if we had done everything right that evening and there was no cause for concern.

"I thought the force I used was okay and well within reasonable limits. I can say with a clear conscience that I did think I was well within my rights to do what I did."

Friday, October 5, 2007 is also a day Mr Fenwick will never forget - for all the right reasons.

A jury took just 20 minutes to decide that he was perfectly entitled to do what he did, and restored his faith in people and common sense.