Yobs threw rocks at his house for years. But the father who fought back is arrested

After two hours of bombardment in the latest attack and no sign of the police, the 65-year-old retired builder decided enough was enough.

As a particularly large missile landed in his kitchen, he grabbed a plank of wood from the garden and ran towards the gang to scare them away.

Taking a stand: Sydney Davis and son Jimmy, five with a rock thrown by thugs. He got the wood to scare them

The police arrived just in time - to arrest Mr Davis for possession of an offensive weapon.

He now faces up to six months in prison. Yesterday Mr Davis said he was bewildered by the decision to prosecute him.

He claims objects have been thrown at his house on 700 separate occasions.
His windows have been smashed five times in eight months.

'Something needs to be done to stop these kids. They are out there every night,' he said.

'One of my neighbours even had a seven-month-old in their kitchen when a brick came through the window.

'It showered glass across the baby's face. When these kids see the police they are off through the alleyways. The police have got no chance of catching them.' 

Mr Davis's 42-year- old wife Pauline dialled 999 when their home came under attack yet again last week, but two and a half hours later officers had failed to arrive.

The couple's two sons, five and seven, were cowering behind the sofa when their father ran at the gang.

He recalled: 'My wife called the police at 6 o'clock. But just kept on throwing stones.

'I have two kids and if one of those stones hit them it could have caused some really nasty damage.

'I left the back door open to stop them smashing it.'

When officers arrived outside his home in Swindon, Wiltshire, Mr Davis was handcuffed and led away to the cells, where he was later charged.

The youths ran off. 'What in the world is this country coming to that the police arrest people like me for protecting their own property?' he said yesterday.

'The police say they want to reduce crime, yet they let evil little toe-rags like this off. Then they prosecute hard-working, upstanding residents like me.

The law is, quite simply, a colossal ass.'

Wiltshire police claim to have increased their patrols after two houses in the region were attacked by arsonists.

Officers' shift patterns were also changed so they would be in the neighbourhood after dark, while the local council is considering blocking-off some of the alleyways.

Yesterday a spokesman confirmed that no youths were arrested in relation to the incident.

Local councillor Justin Tomlinson said homeowners in the area were 'living in fear' of unruly youths.

'We have sympathy with frustrated local residents - the Government continues to ignore a broken society, and therefore it is little wonder that frustrations boil over.'