A burglar got more than he bargained for when he chose to enter the home of 62-year-old Stewart Hunt from Chilton Walk, Pogmoor on the evening of 23 June.

24-year-old Jonathan Michael Shaw from Dodworth Road, Barnsley broke into the conservatory of the address in a bid to steal an armful of items. However, what he didn’t know was that Stewart, who was relaxing with his wife in the sitting room, was actually a qualified Kung-Fu instructor.

Stewart heard the thief and went to investigate. He was confronted by Shaw who threatened him with a glass bottle. Putting his skills into practice, Stewart managed to tackle the intruder who released the bottle and ran off but not before leaving a trace of blood at the scene which would consequently lead to his sentencing.

Shaw was arrested the same night and later charged with burglary and assault, including 2 other burglaries he was involved in in July at addresses in Worsbrough and Barnsley town centre. He appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on 28 October and was sentenced to 5 years in jail.

Detective Constable Chris Allott said, “It’s great to see criminals get what they deserve and in this case it was a hefty sentence which was achieved thanks to the help of Mr Hunt’s skills and bravery. Nevertheless, confronting a burglar can be extremely dangerous, luckily Stewart was trained in defence but we would recommend that if you are unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation, call 999 straight away and let the police deal with the situation safely.”