A GUTSY homeowner chased a prolific burglar over garden fences before frog-marching him back to his own home and making a citizen’s arrest.

Scott Munns broke into a man’s shed to steal a Playstation, headset and games only to get caught as he fled the scene.

The 49-year-old has been jailed for a string of burglaries and thefts between July 2018 to February this year in Leigh and Eastwood.

On February 12, after Munns was spotted on CCTV taking the console, the owner chased and found him after he had jumped over several garden fences.

The homeowner then frog-marched Munns back to his home to arrest him, and later found Munns had taken his console, earpiece and games, which were left in a carrier bag a few gardens away.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Munns had said “it was only the shed” and that he was “sorry” to the victim at the scene and there wasn’t a need for him to be arrested, but police were called regardless.

In December, a resident in Eastwood reviewed CCTV footage to find Munns had approached her front door with a torch in his mouth and had tried to break open the door.

However, he was unsuccessful and left the scene, but the resident didn’t realise he had tried to break in until looking at the footage.

In July 2018, Munns broke into a locker at the Len Forge sports centre in Eastwood, which contained a wallet, mobile phone and driving licence.

Munns, of no fixed address, appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday via video link to be sentenced for two burglaries and two thefts.

Ian Clift, mitigating, said: “This defendant is 49 years old and has a 20-year entrenched Class A drug addiction.

“He is genuine in his remorse and his desire to change his ways.

“He has been offered help before but has said he was too proud and too ashamed of how his life had gone, but now accepts he does need help.”

Judge Andrew Hurst told Munns: “You have a very long offending record, including a record of not adhering to court orders.

“You can’t have cared that anyone was at home when you tried to break in.

“Clearly it seems you don’t care very much that your actions have consequences.”

Judge Hurst jailed Munns for two years and ten months.