Pictured: The bungling burglar left dangling by his shoelaces after getting caught in victim's bay window

By Charlotte Gill
Last updated at 10:29 PM on 22nd August 2008

As a burglar, John Pearce thinks nothing of turning his victims' homes upside down.
But this time it was the house that turned him the wrong way up.

Attempting a daylight raid, the 32-year-old somehow got his foot caught after smashing his way through the front window of a Victorian terrace home at 6pm.

Unable to free himself, Pearce was left hanging upside down in the window frame for more than an hour as a crowd of 30 neighbours and passers-by gathered to ridicule him in Dartford, Kent.

Enlarge  

Britain's worst burglar: John Pearce had got his foot caught after smashing his way through the glass

When owner Paul Ives arrived home from work, Pearce, who was armed with a hammer, tried to claim that he had spotted someone else trying to raid the house and had selflessly attempted to catch the scoundrel, getting stuck in the process.

Unsurprisingly, Mr Ives didn't believe his story and declined to set him free.

Police and paramedics arrived on the scene and eventually managed to release Pearce's shoe and haul him down.

It is believed that the lace in one of his trainers became caught in the window frame as he tried to clamber through.

He was arrested, handcuffed and taken to the police station.

Hanging around: John Pearce had got his foot caught after smashing his way through the glass

Facing Dartford magistrates the following day, he admitted burglary with intent to steal and will be sentenced on September 5.

Mr Ives, 44, an air conditioning engineer who recently moved into the house, said: 'The man must be the world's dumbest thief.

'He was hanging upside down. His body was inside the house and he was stuck in the window with his foot outside.

'The more he struggled, the more he got jammed. When I got home, he still had the hammer in his hand which he had used to smash the main window and get some leverage.

'He was screaming to get him down and we were all saying, "I don't think so".

'He kept saying, "I haven't done anything. I was stopping the burglars".'

Mr Ives's girlfriend, Angela Gloyn, 32, said: 'Afterwards we had a right giggle about it.'

Next-door neighbour Nicola Daniels, 34, said: 'I heard banging and thought Paul and Angela were moving their furniture into the house.

'They've only just moved in and they'd told me they were going to pop the window out to get it in.

'When the banging continued I went upstairs and looked out of the window and saw two feet sticking out of it. I thought it couldn't be right so I went outside and saw this man hanging upside down.

Enlarge  

Bungling burglar: Pearce hangs from the window while police and paramedics look on

'He was screaming in agony and swearing and shouting, "I'm not the burglar" but I said, "Well, you are, aren't you?"

'I think he'd smashed his way through the small window at the top of the frame and just tried to get through so quickly that his foot had got stuck.

'Another neighbour called the police and there ended up being quite a crowd standing laughing at him. It's the main road to the station so it's quite busy.

'One man walked past and said, "Hang in there, mate". It was all quite funny.'

Print this article

Read later

Email to a friend

Share this article: