A BRAVE father-of-one pinned down a would-be thief in the early hours of yesterday and attempted to detain him, only to be threatened by two further offenders.

Zsolt Kovacs had finished watching a movie at his home in Defoe Road when he spotted a torch shining at the entrance of his garage.

The incident happened just after midnight yesterday, under the cover of darkness.

At first the 43-year-old thought it was his family messing around, but when he entered the garage he was surrounded by three men who were all “screaming and shouting”.

“My first reaction was to get one of them, and I did, I grabbed him round the throat and managed to pin him on the floor,” he said. “I then dragged him into the house and he began to shout for help.

“The two others then came back for him and they threatened to stab and kill me.

“Because there were small children in the house I was shocked and I had to let him go because I was nervous they might do something.”

While attempting to detain one of the suspects, Mr Kovacs suffered a cut to his hand and bruising, but nothing was stolen from the garage.

All three offenders were described as white men, about 5’10”, each of a slim build and aged between 20 and 30.

One of the men was described as wearing casual clothing and had short brown hair. The other two were described as wearing hooded tops.

Anyone with information about the incident or who recognises the described offenders is asked to call Pc Richard Neasham from Ipswich on 101.