Got stung: Jamie Brown, 29, has been jailed for 24 weeks after being caught by police when he sat on a wasps nest

A thief fleeing the scene of a burglary found his life of crime had a painful sting in the tail when a cloud of wasps attacked him after he sat on their nest.

Jamie Brown tried to hide from police by sneaking into a bush after breaking into a shop in Leeds, West Yorkshire, on Saturday night

But as he blundered in the 29-year-old disturbed a colony of wasps and they went for him en masse.

Officers heard the unfortunate thief cry out as he was stung repeatedly by the angry insects before being arrested.

Brown, who stole a £200 fish tank, then spent six hours in agony at Leeds General Infirmary, before being discharged.

Today, he appeared before magistrates, admitted burglary and was jailed.

Inspector Chris Bowen, of the Leeds inner south neighbourhood policing team (NPT), said: 'Instead of taking him to the cells, we had to take him straight to hospital.'

Police were called at about 8.15pm to reports of a commercial burglary at The Range furniture outlet in Hunslet, Leeds.

On arrival, officers discovered a fish tank discarded along with a pair of gloves close to the scene.

Insp Bowen added: 'The officers heard noises coming from a bush nearby.

'He was apparently in so much pain after sitting on or disturbing the nest that he was struggling to breathe. He was in hospital for about five or six hours, but seems to be physically well now.'

Brown pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary which the court heard breached a suspended sentence for a previous theft and a ban from entering the homeware store.

Lorraine Harris, prosecuting, said: 'The alarm was triggered and police were called, parking their car near to the store.

'Police saw the defendant running towards them. He was sweating heavily and rubbing his head.

'He said he was running home and had been attacked by wasps. A witness said she saw him wearing gloves, which they later found with the fish tank.

'He had gone into the bushes to relieve himself. Due to the number of wasps in the nest he was taken to hospital. The glove marks were found and a foot print recovered.

'When asked why he was in the area he said he was visiting his aunt.'

Caught by the buzz: Brown tried to steal a fish tank from The Range furniture outlet in Hunslet, Leeds. He was then stung repeatedly by wasps

The court heard Brown has a number of previous convictions for theft.

Sentencing Brown to 24 weeks in prison, deputy district judge Andrew Pascoe said: 'You will go to prison for 16 weeks and serve eight weeks respectively for burglary.

'I hope that you use that time usefully in regards to your drug problem.'

There was little sympathy for the suspect from internet users when news of his arrest was posted on the local neighbourhood policing team's Facebook page.

The team wrote: 'A male has been arrested after breaking into business premises in Hunslet. The male however is currently in hospital after making the unfortunate decision to hide from the police in a bush and thus disturbing a wasps' nest.'

The post was 'liked' by more than 1,700 people and attracted nearly 200 comments.

One user joked that the burglar must have been 'buzzing' after the incident.

Another said: 'So wasps do have a purpose after all!'

Another wrote: 'Love a bit of karma!'