A DISABLED man made a citizen's arrest after finding a burglar who tried to hide in a cupboard.

Edward Wardle, 52, returned home from a night out with his wife, Linda, to find their home disturbed.

Mr Wardle, who has a back complaint, went upstairs and spotted the cupboard door closing and a hand disappearing inside.

He put his weight against the door and told the burglar he was going nowhere, John Gillette, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court yesterday. Mr Gillette added: "After a struggle the burglar managed to force his way out.

"Mr Wardle did not give up and held the burglar in a bear hug until a neighbour arrived."

In the dock was Craig Lewis, 22, who admitted the raid in Tawney Road, Grangetown, last March. He also pleaded guilty to breaking into another house in Flexley Avenue, Priestfields, Middlesbrough, in February, when the owner again caught him red-handed in his garden with his video recorder nearby.

Lewis, of Tennyson Avenue, Grangetown, was jailed for four years including a 12-month recall sentence for offending while on licence.

Mr Wardle, whose wife dialled 999 and then called the neighbour, said after the hearing: "I was determined not to let him get away. I clung on to him when he barged his way out of the cupboard and then the neighbour helped me to pin him down until the police arrived after about 20 minutes.