A BRAVE shop boss who hung onto the bonnet of his car while it was being stolen has slammed the sentence given out to the thief.

Businessman Alan Shuttleworth was at Bolton Crown Court to witness thief Tommy Kelbie, aged 25, being sentenced to three years in prison.

The shocking incident, which was captured on CCTV, happened when the 59-year-old was locking up his store, Starlight Bedrooms, in Bloomfield Road, Farnworth.

Mr Shuttleworth, who has run the business for 35 years with brother Dennis, said he was angry with the outcome, but was consoled by the fact that Kelbie is now behind bars.

He said: I have never been in court before, so I thought it would be interesting to go and see what happens. Some of his mates were sat around me before the hearing started, which was quite intimidating.

"He was extremely arrogant. When they said 'take him down' after he had been told his punishment, he punched the air with delight.

"I thought he would have got a lot more than that, I think they were lenient."

Mr Shuttleworth suffered injuries to his shoulders, knees, arms and hips as a result of the incident, when he was flung into the road as Kelbie, of Greenacres, Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, sped away. He only let go of the bonnet as Kelbie continued to put his foot down on the accelerator.

Mr Shuttleworth had left the keys of the brown Skoda in the ignition while he was locking up the premises at 3.20pm on February 7, and he noticed Kelbie shortly after when a woman shouted "what are you doing?" to the thief.

Kelbie struck again less than two weeks later, on February 18, when a black BMW was stolen from another business on Bloomfield Road in similar circumstances.

The owner of the BMW attempted to drag Kelbie out of his car, but was unsuccessful and was knocked to the ground.

Kelbie previously admitted two counts of theft, two counts of dangerous driving and two counts of driving while disqualified at an earlier hearing at Bolton Crown Court, and he had also breached a previous suspended sentence.

Mr Shuttleworth is back on his feet now, and has largely recovered from his injuries.

He said: "My elbow still hurts a bit when I lean on it, but thankfully I am OK. I still have the insurance hanging over me, because they won't pay out at the moment. I have got a replacement car, but the whole thing has cost me a lot of money."