A BRAVE Dinas Cross woman grabbed hold of a career burglar as he tried to get away from her home.

Mary Simpson, aged 56, confronted David Thomas Solley on the stairs of her home and told him he wasn't going anywhere.

And when he managed to struggle free she chased him down the road until he got into a getaway car.

Solley, aged 37, admitted burglary and was jailed for a total of 19 months.

Brian Simpson, prosecuting, said Mary Simpson ran the Kiel House mini market attached to her home.

On January 10 she returned to the living area for breakfast and found Solley trying to make his way out having stolen £25 in cash from an upstairs room.

"She jumped and asked him what he was doing. He said he was trying to find someone called Ben," added Mr Simpson.

In fact Solley was a "career burglar" with 110 previous convictions, mostly for dishonesty.

The getaway car was spotted by police on the A40 near Carmarthen. Officers stopped the car but Solley jumped out and ran away. Police gave chase and he was arrested on the roof of Towy Builders' Merchants.

Daniel Griffiths, the barrister representing Solley, from Kent, said he had gone to Pembrokeshire with his partner in a bid to detox from Class A drugs, but it hadn't worked.

Judge Geraint Walters praised Mary Simpson's pluckiness.

"It must have been terrifying for her. She was taken by surprise and grabbed hold of him without knowing whether he would pull out a knife or try to run away," he added.

Solley, he said, was making a career out of crime.