Serial burglar gets shoulder dislocated after breaking into home of martial arts expert

A prolific burglar who suffered a dislocated shoulder after unwittingly targeting the house of a martial arts expert has been jailed.

Anthony Middleton, 49, made the costly mistake of breaking into the Hartlepool home of a man who was "more than able to look after himself" on the morning of 5 May.

After waking the occupier up by nosily forcing open a window around 6am, the "highly trained security advisor" grabbed Middleton and forced him to the ground, keeping him there until the police arrived.

Middleton, who has 63 convictions for 139 offences such as burglary, committed his latest break-in while on prison licence after being released last October. He had been serving a three-and-a half-year sentence after admitting to two counts of attempted burglary.

Middleton, of Church Street, Hartlepool, apologised to the latest victims in a statement read out by his barrister Andrew Teate at Teeside Crown Court. "This is as far from a sophisticated burglary as one could get," he said.

Middleton has now been sentenced to three years in prison for breaking into the home on West View Road, Hartlepool.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC said: "The best part of your life has been spent in custody. You made such a noise that you disturbed the occupant.

"Unhappily for you, you selected a property where the householder was more than able to look after himself."