A FATHER of five fought off three thieves while they tried to make off with scrap lead from his back garden.
Simon Downs, a 39-year-old Wiltshire builder, heard a noise coming from the side of his house at around 11.30am on Thursday, March 9.
Building work had been "rained off" that day and he was relaxing on the sofa in just his underwear but he assumed it was "one of the boys" coming to pick things up.
Upon investigating, he found two men taking scrap lead which he had been storing from his work.
Mr Downs said after he challenged them, the two men started attacking him, one wielding a copper busbar.
He trapped their only exit from the alleyway and "chinned" one of the men before the local postman saw what was going on and ran to help Mr Downs.
This is when the two thieves retreated to their Volkswagen van, which was untaxed with no MOT.
Mr Downs claims he "rammed" a metal bar through one of the windows of the van as it sped off.
Around 30 minutes after reporting the theft to Wiltshire Police, the van was located and stopped in Middle Wallop.
It has since been seized by police and has been impounded at Ashley Wood.
When he went to watch the CCTV footage of the incident, the file had been corrupted and Mr Downs questions whether the camera had been tampered with.
Despite recovering all of the stolen goods, Mr Downs said the ordeal has left him "a bit shaken up" and he is worried the offenders will come back.
None of his children were in the house when the incident took place in in Lower Road, Quidhampton, near Salisbury.
The three men appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court on March 11.
Ion Olareanu, 33, of no fixed address, Salisbury was charged with theft and was ordered to pay £253.
Vasile Marin, 27, of Plumstead High Street, Greenwich, was charged with assault by beating and theft.
He pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay £537.
Gige Marin, 32, of Plumstead High Street, was charged with assault by beating and theft. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay £602.
When asked whether he thought justice had been served to those who hurt him, he said "no".
He added: "I don't think it's good enough, not when someone assaults you and violates your property.
"It's a slap on the wrist. You get assaulted in your own home with a bar and they get to walk free."
A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police said: "Three people have appeared in court charged with theft following an incident in Quidhampton.
"Officers were called to an address on March 9 following a report that three men had been witnessed stealing scrap lead from the side of a house.
"They were challenged by the homeowner and arrested a short time later in Middle Wallop."
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