That's how to catch a burglar! Judge's praise for builder who took just 3 hours to find thief... only to face arrest himself for 'ruining' police investigation

Joseph Ingham decided to track down burglar who raided his home



Called burglar and threatened to ransack his home to retrieve belongings

Initially 'criticised by police for potentially jeopardizing case'

Judg e Micahel Mettyear praised him for bringing to justice serial burglar Dean Harris, telling Hull Crown Court: 'I am sorry to say Mr Ingham has shown other people how to investigate a case'



Victim turned detective Joseph Ingham tracked down the thief who had ransacked his home

When builder Joseph Ingham received a call from his distraught wife to say £3,000 of gadgets and family heirlooms had been stolen from their home, he was initially furious.

Then he decided to get even – by tracking down the culprit and forcing him to hand back his possessions.

Three hours later, the father of two had returned home with most of the stolen goods – even before the police had finished taking down a statement from his wife.

But to Mr Ingham’s dismay, the officers accused him of ruining their own investigation and threatened him with arrest.

Now Mr Ingham, 32, has been vindicated after a judge praised him for ‘showing other people how to investigate a case’, and helping to convict serial burglar Dean Harris.

Mr Ingham launched his own investigation straight after wife Rachel, 33, called him with the news their home near Bridlington, East Yorkshire, had been burgled.

An iPod and two tablet computers belonging to daughters Jodie, 15, and Ayesha, 12, had been stolen along with a laptop, camera, jewellery, a watch and heirlooms.

Mr Ingham said: ‘I did what anyone should have done. I was so angry that my house had been burgled and I was not insured.

‘I knew I would never hear the last of it from my girls, and my wife was so upset.

‘Bridlington is not that big a place. People know each other in this town.’



Hull Crown Court heard Mr Ingham visited a bail hostel for criminals and promised £20 to a resident for information.

The man revealed Harris’s name and the estate where he lived.



Mr Ingham quickly discovered that he knew Harris’s girlfriend, Emma Miles, from his school days.

Luckily she was in when he called at their home. Mr Ingham said: ‘I told her to get her boyfriend on the telephone. I was 90 per cent certain he had robbed my house.’

When Harris denied all knowledge, Mr Ingham threatened to ‘ransack’ his house and look for the stolen goods himself.



Harris told Mr Ingham his possessions were ‘under the bed in his daughter’s room’.



Miss Miles found a rucksack containing the valuables and handed them over.



Professional criminal Dean Harris, who was tracked down by one of his victims, was found guilty of committing two burglaries on the same day

Around £600 of items – mainly jewellery – were missing.

But on returning home triumphant, Mr Ingham said he was ‘treated like a criminal’ by police.



They criticised him for threatening a witness and offering a reward.

‘They were threatening to arrest me. They were saying I had ruined the investigation,’ he added.

However, at Harris’s trial last week, Judge Michael Mettyear was more forgiving.

‘I am sorry to say Mr Ingham has shown other people how to investigate a case,’ he told the court.



‘I may not approve of all his behaviour. The police are not able to use his methods but at least he gave it a go and made all the inquiries.



'He brought to justice a persistent long-term burglar.’