A HOUSEHOLDER who came face to face with a burglar who had just ransacked his home in Bournemouth has been commended for making a successful citizen’s arrest.

Lee Moss was unable to get his key into the front door when he returned home from work on September 18 last year. He heard noises inside the Southbourne flat and went outside to use his mobile telephone.

Prosecutor Heather Shimmon told Bournemouth Crown Court Mr Moss then saw Andrew Benn and confronted him.

“He grabbed hold of him in what he describes as a bear hug … Mr Moss held on to him, shouting for assistance,” she said.

One neighbour rang the police, and another helped Mr Moss detain Benn until they arrived. Among items hidden about his person were a camera, an iPod, a sat-nav and a jewellery box belonging to Mr Moss’s girlfriend. A “swag bag” of other stolen gear was inside the flat.

Benn initially denied being the burglar, telling the police he had been helping someone else by receiving items through the window. He changed his plea after his fingerprint was found inside the flat. Drug addict Benn, 33, of no fixed address, also asked for four other offences to be taken into consideration.

The court heard that he had a total of 36 convictions involving 91 offences since 1994 and committed the burglary within a month of his last release from prison.

Defence counsel Simon Emslie said Benn had written a letter to his victim expressing his remorse. Benn’s mother had died of cancer three days before the burglary.

Judge Christopher Harvey Clarke QC jailed him for two years and two months and said Mr Moss deserved the commendation of the court.

“He is to be applauded for carrying out that citizen’s arrest,” he said.

After the case, Detective Constable Tim Davis praised Mr Moss’s actions, saying: “It was a brave thing to do.

“If he hadn’t done it, there’s every chance we wouldn’t have been able to catch the chap. Even a minute or so would have given him the chance to dispose of the stolen items.”