Father tells why he stabbed a night-time intruder

A man told today how he fought off and stabbed a suspected burglar who broke into his home as his family slept.

The 19-year-old suspect was seriously ill in hospital today.

The householder said he woke up at 2am on Saturday to find a man kneeling beside his wife, stroking her legs. She screamed and in the commotion the couple's 14-month-old daughter, who sleeps in their room, fell from her cot.

The 33-year-old father, who does not want to be named, said: "I chased the man downstairs where he ran out of the kitchen door. He dropped a bag containing my mobile phone, a camera, my cigarettes and £50."

He called police to his home in Great Yarmouth, and, as he waited for them, saw a shadow outside. "My wife was downstairs with the baby and I grabbed the first thing I saw, a bread knife.

"I opened the kitchen door and suddenly this man attacked me with a metal bar. He hit me on the shoulder and I stabbed him in the leg. We started struggling and I remember stabbing him again. I acted in self-defence and if I had to do the same thing again to protect my family, I would."

The suspect fled and the householder was later arrested and questioned by police before being released on bail pending further enquiries.