Former soldier arrested for kidnap after his citizen's arrest on yob who pelted his home with eggs

When Frank McCourt's home was targeted by young hooligans hurling rocks and eggs, he challenged them and told them to leave and never return.

But the next day they came back so Mr McCourt, a former soldier, tried to phone the police but was put on hold for 45 minutes.

At the end of his tether, he grabbed one of the louts by the arm and hauled him inside, telling him he was performing a citizen's arrest.

But it was Mr McCourt who was arrested later that day - for kidnap.

The 57-year-old spent six weeks on bail before being charged with the lesser offence of assault.

The case hung over him for two and a half months before it was dropped just days before the trial when prosecutors accepted there was no realistic prospect of convicting him.

Yesterday, Mr McCourt, a delivery driver who spent 12 years in the Army, said: 'It's utterly disgraceful that something like this can happen in this day and age.

'Gangs of hooligans who are barely out of short trousers can roam the streets unchecked, causing misery for entire neighbourhoods  -  and if you try and stand in their way, you end up in the dock.

'Those children have got away scot-free. They are the criminals of the future and they've been given the green light to carry on as they were, while I've been put through three months of hell.'

The trouble started on the evening of February 17 when Mr McCourt and his wife Maria heard a bang on the window of their £170,000 semi-detached home in Crawley, West Sussex.

Mr McCourt went outside to find two boys 'of about 11' throwing stones, mud and eggs at houses. He reprimanded them and told them not to come back.

Trouble: Mr McCourt's street in Crawley, West Sussex

But when he returned from work the next day, he found his wife in tears.

He said: 'She was absolutely terrified. She told me a gang of kids had been throwing things at the house all afternoon, and shouting all the names under the sun at her.'

When they came back later, Mr McCourt called the police on their anti-social behaviour hotline but couldn't get an answer despite holding for three-quarters of an hour.

He went out to look for a community support officer but couldn't find one.

At his wit's end, Mr McCourt grabbed one of the louts, led him into his house and demanded to know the boy's name, his mother's name and her phone number.

While he was trying to call the boy's mother, she turned up banging on the door, shouting and swearing.

He said: 'She said she didn't want me manhandling her son. I said if she'd brought him up properly, I wouldn't have to.'

Mr McCourt let the child go but minutes later police arrived and arrested him on suspicion of kidnapping.

He remained on bail until April 3, when officers told him they would issue a caution. But Mr McCourt refused to accept it, because doing so would be an admission of guilt.

He was charged with assault and a date was set for trial but the case was later dropped. His MP Laura Moffatt, who took up the matter with police, said: 'Thankfully, common sense won the day. This family has suffered a horrendous level of intimidation from anti-social youths.'

A Sussex police spokesman said: 'An allegation was made and officers duly investigated the facts reported to police. A file was presented to the Crown Prosecution Service in accordance with procedure.'