A BUNGLING burglar was caught by a Mercedes owner after he could not figure out how to release the car’s handbrake.

Prolific thief Liam Waddilove sneaked into a house on Spa Road and stole keys to a Mercedes A class parked outside.

But after getting into the car and starting the engine he did not know how to drive away and only managed to slowly move 200 yards before Kris Abbasi and his brother Idris caught up with him, pulled him clear and held him until police arrived.

Benjamin Lawrence, prosecuting, told Bolton Crown Court how Mr Abassi was staying at his brother’s home when, at 4.30am on August 28, they were woken by a noise downstairs.

“Idris looked down from the top of the stairs and saw the defendant with a backpack walking from the dining room to the living room. He had entered by an insecure downstairs window,” said Mr Lawrence.

Waddilove ran out through the front door with the keys to Kris Abassi’s Mercedes.

“The defendant pressed the key fob and was therefore able to identify the vehicle by flashing as it unlocked, being just a few metres away,” said Mr Lawrence.

“He got inside and attempted to drive away but was clearly unfamiliar with the controls and, in particular, was unable to find the button to take the handbrake off.”

Waddilove, 31, managed to lock himself inside the car as Idris Abassi reached him and eventually, with the rear wheels locking, managed to drive slowly 200 metres to the end of the road and round a corner.

“That gave Idris the opportunity to get into his own vehicle and get in front of the defendant and block his path,” said Mr Lawrence.

Kris Abassi joined his brother and demanded Waddilove get out of the car, which he eventually did.

As Waddilove was pulled out of the vehicle he slipped and hit his forehead, causing a three-inch gash.

Idris later told police he had been “scared and angry” by the burglar coming into his home.

The court heard Waddilove, of Tavistock Road, Bolton, who has spent nearly 15 years in prison for burglaries and robbery, admitted to burglary, taking a vehicle without consent and driving while banned for the current case.

Joshua Bowker, defending said Wadidlove had become institutionalised, is “frustrated and despondent” at finding himself behind bars again.

“He has a very supportive family and is deeply ashamed he has let them down,” he said.

Jailing him for 28 months, Judge Graeme Smith said: "There is always an impact when somebody’s property is broken into.

"It is not just a question of what is taken, it is the invasion of someone’s personal space."