POLICE caught three men red-handed as they carried out a £37,000 antiques raid on a country house near Droitwich.

They were arrested after a chase but one of them has since gone on the run and has still to appear in court, said Antonie Muller, prosecuting.

The clumsy burglars also dropped some valuable porcelain which was part of their haul from High Park and caused £4,650 damage to it.

Carl Marchant, aged 29, of Fairwater Close, Evesham, and John Sharpe, 25, of Moor Green Lane, Moseley, Birmingham, admitted burglary.

Marchant was jailed for two-and-a-half years. Sharpe was jailed for 18 months and ordered to serve an extra 11 months, which was part of an unexpired sentence of four-and-a-half years imposed in 1997 for conspiracy to supply drugs.

Mr Muller said the owner of the property was working in a stable block office on March 15 last year when he heard a loud bang as the back door of the house was forced open.

He called police who responded quickly and found the burglars' car in the courtyard with the tailgate open.

Lee Marklew, defending Marchant, said he was a scaffolder who had been under financial stress after losing his job. His wife, the main wage-earner, had recently given birth.

Sharpe had been working as an area manager for a home insurance firm and had been given a lift when his car had broken down.

He knew the others socially but was unaware he was going on a planned burglary, said his barrister Graham Cliff.

Judge Andrew Geddes said a householder would have been very frightened to have been confronted by three men.

"This kind of burglary which causes enormous distress to people living in a house is far too common," he added.

The judge accepted that Sharpe had played a lesser role in the raid.