Alexander Thurgood and two unknown accomplices were caught ransacking the property when the householder returned from the shop. The 42-year-old came downstairs in the house on Barningham Street, Darlington, and wrestled with the man before hitting him to the head and arms with a metal wrench, Teesside Crown Court heard. “When victim and his lodger returned, they saw three men in the process of burgling their address,” she said. The burglar was identified by his fingerprints discovered at the property and the wrench was recovered from outside the house. You entered the property armed with a wrench and you sought to use that on the victim to make your escape.”