A HOUSEHOLDER fought with a burglar after discovering him inside his home, a court was told.

David Fox lost his glasses in the struggle, was threatened with being knifed and was hit with a spade.

But he put to flight 27-year-old Leonard Young who escaped across Hereford racecourse.

Young's hat was found in Mr Fox's home in Grandstand Road, Hereford, and his gloves were inside a jacket discarded near the scene of the raid. A smear of his blood was discovered on one glove.

He lied that he was on a bus travelling to his address in Summer Pool, Bishop's Frome, Herefordshire, at the time of the break-in.

A jury at Worcester Crown Court convicted Young of burglary and assault causing actual bodily harm after retiring for only one hour.

After the trial it was revealed he had already admitted burgling a cottage in Worcester.

The owner had left the property but Young got in through a window last December and stole a stereo, wine and clothing, said John Maxwell, prosecuting.

Two years ago, he was sentenced to three years in jail for nine burglaries, with 42 other crimes taken into consideration.

Judge Ian Morris remanded him in custody for a pre-sentence report to be prepared, but warned: "There will inevitably be a substantial prison sentence in this case."

He praised Mr Fox's "considerable courage" in tackling Young, who shone a torch into his face.

Mr Fox, a married man in his 30s, told the jury he returned home on December 18 last year and heard floorboards creaking upstairs.

He refused to let Young, a roofing worker, leave and phoned the police. The defendant threw a candlestick at him, then hit him on the arm with a spade before fleeing.

Tim Clarke, defending, said Young had beaten a drug problem but was under the influence of drink during the burglary.