Man charged with assault after fighting off robbers from family business

A gardener who attacked two burglars as
they raided his family business appeared in
court yesterday, charged with assaulting
them. Andrew Woodhouse, 44, raced to his
workshop after the alarm went off at
12.30am and found the pair stealing diesel.
Determined to stop them, he grabbed a
fence post one of them had and used it to
fight back, a jury heard. Kevin Green, 53, and Timothy Cross, 32,
tried to escape into a field, but Woodhouse
chased them. He caught Green and attacked, leaving him
with two broken legs and a broken arm. The
court heard he then rugby tackled Cross and
lay on top of him. Woodhouse’s wife Lisa said she then arrived
to check he was OK and called the police.
But it was dad-of-five Woodhouse who was
arrested and accused of using excessive
force. He could face a jail sentence. The
thieves ended up with £75 fines. In recent years, Woodhouse says thieves have stolen up to £25,000 of machinery from his business. This time, prosecutor James Wilson said he
“lost it”. He said: “It was not reasonable self-defence.
He lost his temper and went over the top.” But defence lawyer Andrew Taylor praised
him and said: “He showed stoicism, courage
and fitness to chase them. One of the men
was armed and went to attack him. He acted
in lawful self-defence. “He agrees the red mist came down which
you can understand when his business has
almost been wiped out by crime. If it hadn’t
been for him they would not have been
caught. Where are we in society when a
person cannot act in self-defence to protect his property?” The court heard Woodhouse told police he
fought the pair like a “mad man”. He said: “I swore at the men and grabbed
one, I then felt a blow to my hand and
shoulder and began grappling. I was pushed
over and I grabbed something from one of
their hands which felt like a wooden fence
post. “I didn’t want to be on the floor with
someone hitting me with the wood. I swung
out like a mad man, hitting as hard as I
could.” Woodhouse said he was “sickened” to learn
the extent of Green’s injuries. The court heard Green was still on crutches
after the attack last March. Woodhouse, of Govilon, near Abergavenny,
denies grievous bodily harm and grievous
bodily harm with intent. The trial at Cardiff
crown court continues.