A TEENAGER and a pensioner have been praised for tackling a burglar.

Allen Bennett, 17, of Crauford Road, Oxford, and neighbour Robert Betteridge, 66, of Brasenose Driftway, have won police commendations.

The pair were praised by police for spotting a woman leaving a pensioner’s home in Cowley after stealing cash in a distraction burglary last November.

Mr Bennett tried to stop her but the suspect fled until Mr Betteridge grabbed her and twisted her round on to a car bonnet.

With Mr Bennett’s help, they held her for 20 minutes until police arrived.

Mr Betteridge said: “She kept saying to me ‘let me go’.

“It felt like ages. She was struggling, she was wild.

“I don’t think I did anything special, and I wouldn’t think twice about doing it again.”

Chief Supt Brendan O’Dowda handed out certificates at a commendation ceremony at Thames Valley Police headquarters in Kidlington.

Mr Bennett said: “I feel very proud of what we did.”

Burglar Gemma Boswell, 24, received a 20 week jail sentence suspended for two years at Oxford Magistrates’ Court in January.

A commendation was also given to Steven Eastwood who took a photograph of a burglar emerging from his neighbours open window in Forest Road, Risinghurst, Oxford, last November.

Police used the picture to identify serial burglar Richard Sawyer, 30, below, who was sent to jail for three years as a result.

mwilkinson@oxfordmail.co.uk