Burglar nabbed asking cop for help

3:47pm Tuesday 14th November 2006

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A burglar asked an off-duty police officer for help with his bags full of stolen goods - and got arrested on the spot.

At dawn last Saturday Bryan O'Gorman, 28, was trying to lift three black bags of electrical goods over a fence outside a housing trust in Wandsworth, south London, when the officer walked by.

The policeman, who was not in uniform, pulled out his warrant card and grabbed O'Gorman by the sleeve. Even when the thief threatened to assault the officer, he did not let go.

A police unit arrived at the scene in Chesterton Close and arrested the jobless O'Gorman on suspicion of burglary. Two days later he pleaded guilty at South Western magistrates' court.

On Thursday O'Gorman, of Ericcson Close in Wandsworth, received a conditional discharge for two years and ordered to pay costs of £70.

Borough Commander Joe Royle admitted it was a "fortuitous break".

But he added: "This was a great job by an officer on his way to work, whose instincts and training helped him control a man desperate to escape.

"The officers seized the opportunity and brought him to be sentenced before the courts."