A BURGLAR picked the wrong house to raid in Newport - being caught red-handed by the former policeman owner and his son, who both have black belts in Kung Fu.

Lewis Welch, 20, was jailed for two and a half years yesterday after admitting burglary and two offences of battery during the raid on the home of former Gwent police constable Mohammed Deen at 11.10pm on June 2.

Welch, of Thames Close, Bettws, had woken Mr Deen's terrified daughter Rukeya, 19, by walking into her room, running out of the house in Maindee when she screamed at him, Newport crown court heard.

Mr Deen and son Hussan, 21, who gained his black belt the day before the raid, were on their way home from a local mosque when the dad saw Welch acting suspiciously outside their nearby home.

Mr Deen, a police constable between 1991 and 2001 commended for bravery after disarming a woman with a knife in 1995, heard his daughter's scream and looked over the wall where he saw three people filling up a bag.

Mr Deen said he was punched or kicked in the neck which dazed him but managed to hold on to Welch until he slipped from his grip and tried to make a run for it. His son rugby-tackled Welch.

Mr Deen said Welch punched his son in the face and cut his lip before a few members of the mosque came out and helped including Shufqut Khan and Mr Deen's brother Asif Deen, who broke his wrist in the struggle.

“He was very determined to get away. He fought like mad,” Mr Deen said.

Three people helped the father and son keep Welch down while they waited for the police, with Mr Deen holding him.

Welch had tried to get away with two laptops worth £1,100, £40 in cash, a hairdryer and a sports bag.

Mr Deen said the incident had left his daughter suffering from depression and said she no longer likes being in the house on her own.

He praised his son's actions, saying he was very proud of him.

“If it hadn’t been for him we wouldn’t have caught anyone that night,” he said.

Defence barrister Gareth Williams said Welch had accidentally landed on Mr Deen as he jumped over the wall to escape and then lashed out at him and his son in panic.

He said Welch had been released from prison three weeks earlier following a prior offence and needed money.

Judge Patrick Curran QC sentenced Welch to 29 months for burglary and concurrent sentences of one month each for both batteries.

These will run consecutively to the first term. Welch will serve half of a 30-month sentence.