61-year-old wrestles screwdriver-wielding burglar to save wife

Carl Ecobichon-Gray said that he was defending his wife, Karen, and his home when Bruno Manuel De Faria – who was ‘under the influence of alcohol or drugs’ – broke into their launderette next door to their St Helier home in the early hours.

When Mr Ecobichon-Gray and his wife – who runs the laundrette Pants in Paradise on Brighton Road – were awoken by a bang on 2 February they went to investigate and discovered that the launderette door had been wrenched open and a lot of their belongings were ‘strewn around the room’.

Mr Echobichon-Gray, a self-employed plasterer, said: ‘We have a board at the back to stop people going behind because people’s washing is there.

‘Suddenly my wife screamed and as I turned around I saw a chap jump up from behind the board with a torch in one hand and a screwdriver in the other.

‘I jumped across and hit him. I tried to restrain him for a bit and was trying to get the screwdriver out of his hand. I held him down while Karen called the police.’

Yesterday, the Royal Court – which described Mr Echobichon-Gray’s actions as ‘brave and courageous’ – jailed 35-year-old De Faria for two years and nine months.

Crown Advocate Christopher Baglin, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant has the benefit of guilty pleas but he was effectively caught red-handed. Mr Ecobichon-Gray was confronted by the defendant and acted bravely and courageously in his response.’

As well as being jailed for two years and nine months and recommended for deportation at the end of his sentence, De Faria was disqualified from driving for 12 months for failing to provide a blood sample.

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