Manchester students chase down burglar and pin him to the ground

A group of Manchester students chased a burglar over a garden fence and pinned him down in a neighbour's garden, a court heard.

The three students were sitting in the living room of their house in Fallowfield when they heard a noise coming from upstairs.

One of them spotted David Thompson in a bedroom, attempting to climb out of the window with a laptop, purse, and an envelope of cash.

Credit: GMP

He shouted for help before grabbing hold of the burglar's leg, which was halfway out of the window.

The burglar dropped the stolen goods out of the window, before jumping into the back garden

He was then chased over the fence by another one of the students and into a neighbour's garden.

He attempted to jump another fence before the second student managed to pin him down to the ground with the help of their next-door neighbours.

There was a struggle between the pair, which resulted in the student sustaining minor injuries.

The undamaged laptop and £30 in cash was recovered.

Another student in the house said: "The incident upset me and scared me, knowing that someone has been in the house whilst I was present."

David Thompson has a number of convictions for burglary, and was sentenced to two years and four months in jail at Manchester Crown Court.

The same judge had given him a suspended sentence the previous year for a similar conviction.

David's lawyer told the court his client had been trying to turn his life around following a series of convictions.

He said: "This is not a situation the court often sees where a person is given a chance and takes that chance for granted, this is a situation where the defendant has tried to turn his life around.

"He has sought additional help outside the courts' order as he felt himself slipping he sought assistance from a group for additional counselling.

"Mr Thompson made an appointment but very sadly this offence was committed just before that appointment."

The judge said he was not prepared to give David another chance.

He told the court: "It is very sad to see you back in custody having committed yet another offence of burglary, particularly in light of the progress you had been making.

"It seems to no avail because you have chosen to turn your back on that opportunity and chose to commit another burglary."