WHEN Stuart Tydeman sat down with his relatives for Easter lunch he wasn't expecting to witness a thief breaking into his work van.The mechanic from CATS garage, in Bramford Road, leapt up from the table with two of his relatives and gave chase to the thief who jumped on a bike and attempted to make his escape.

WHEN Stuart Tydeman sat down with his relatives for Easter lunch he wasn't expecting to witness a thief breaking into his work van.

The mechanic from CATS garage, in Bramford Road, leapt up from the table with two of his relatives and gave chase to the thief who jumped on a bike and attempted to make his escape.

“It didn't take long for him to give in,” said Mr Tydeman, of Downside Close.

“Not once he saw three burly men chasing him.

“I just couldn't believe it. One minute we were all sat around the table chilled out and ready to feast on a big dinner, the next my girlfriend was telling me she could see someone inside my van.

“I thought she was joking at first but sure enough there he was, trying to steal my satellite navigation system.”

Mr Tydeman says he is pleased he chased the thief but says not everyone should do the same.

He said: “We knew we could catch him and there were three of us against one of him, but it is not something everyone should start doing.

“I am pleased justice has been done but I think he might do it again. I think he might think twice before coming near a CATS van again though.”

Steven Povey, 23, of Old Foundry Road, Ipswich, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court on Friday, April 13.

Michael Stephenson, prosecuting, said: “The group caught up with him and the satellite navigation system fell to the ground. Police were called and he was arrested.

“He said he had been drinking and decided to go cycling to Claydon. On his way back he spotted the van with the satellite navigation system inside.

“Opportunistically he picked up a stone and threw it at the window to get inside.”

Mark Holt, mitigating, said: “It is no excuse that while he was intoxicated he decided to do this but that is what happened.

“He has a drink problem which started when his mum died in 2001.”

Povey was given a curfew order for three months and made to pay £47 compensation.

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