Burglar who was beaten by homeowner with a hammer during a break-in is locked up for six and a half years

• Burglar Mark Chesney had threatened to stab Darren McGirr with a knife
• McGirr and his girlfriend struggled to hold Chesney at the property until police arrived

Mark Chesney broke into Darren McGirr's home in November last year

A brave homeowner hit a late night intruder over the head with a hammer as he faced 'every householder’s worst nightmare'.
Darren McGirr, from Stockton, in Teeside, took the extreme measure to defend his property when burglar Mark Chesney threatened to stab him with a knife.
After confronting the Chesney in the hallway, fast-thinking Mr McGirr managed to apprehend the intruder and hold him at the property until the police arrived.
Teeside Crown Court had heard that Mr McGirr's girlfriend Kirsty Lowery screamed as she was awoken by a noise in the early hours of November 9 last year.
Mr McGirr then grabbed a hammer, which he kept by his bed.
He challenged the hoodie-wearing criminal and the court was told that Chesney, 30, told him 'I'm not here for you. I'm in the wrong house.'
Chesney later told police he had not entered Mr McGirr's flat with the intention to steal, but because he wrongly thought it was his friend’s home where he’d been drinking that evening.
Mr McGirr said Chesney claimed he was carrying a knife in a hand he had hidden behind his back and threatened to stab him.

In response, Mr McGirr said he told Ms Lowery to get a hunting knife, but the burglar tried to escape by darting into the kitchen before kicking out a window and trying to escape.
Determined not to see the assailant get away Mr McGirr and Ms Lowery managed to grab him, but when Chesney lunged at Mr McGirr with a knife Mr McGirr struck him over the head with the hammer.
The court heard that Ms Lowery also hit the burglar with a piece of wood and when police arrived at the flat they found Chesney dangling half way out of the window, still struggling to break free.

Teeside Crown Court heard that after confronting Chesney in the hallway fast-thinking Mr McGirr managed to apprehend the intruder and hold him at the property until the police arrived

After he was finally arrest he was taken to hospital under police escort and was found to have suffered a depressed skull fracture.
Prosecutor Michael Bosomworth told the Court that Mr McGirr suffered 'every householder’s worst nightmare'.
Referring to his actions Mr McGirr told jurors: 'I didn’t want it to escalate any further. I made him aware if I wanted to hurt him I could already have done.
'I was very careful not to go over the top. That’s why he was only dazed and not dead.'Chesney is now serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence for the raid on Mr McGirr’s home and two other burglaries.
The jury heard Ms Lowery’s three-minute 999 call where the men argued in the background.
Mr McGirr was heard saying: 'Put the knife down... Put it down or you’re going to get it again. Stay down.'
He said he was never armed with a knife but pretended to have one and threatened to stab Mr McGirr if he swung the hammer and he showed the jury the 'dent' in his head.
A jury convicted him of burglary, but cleared him of perverting the course of justice after he had given a false name.
He was also cleared of attempting to wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Five days before this burglary, he stole items from a shed from a shed and a house in Billingham.
He was convicted of these burglaries after a separate trial in June.
Tom Mitchell, defending, said: 'It’s rare to see a burglar get a degree of rough justice meted out to him.'
The judge, Recorder Henry Prosser, said the burglary at Mr McGirr’s home must have been 'terrifying and appalling' for the victims.