A would-be burglar who was found in a bedroom of a Suffolk holiday home was arrested after being chased by the owner of the property and her 16-year-old daughter, it has been alleged.

Lee Healy was sitting on a motorbike further down the road in Thorpeness when the householder grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket to stop him driving off, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

Healy had allegedly tried to drive away but the house owner still had hold of his jacket and he came off the bike, said Joanne Eley, prosecuting.

Other people arrived on the scene of the commotion and the police were called. Miss Eley said that when police officers arrived Healy complained that the house owner had damaged his bike and claimed he had gone to the house in question to visit some friends he thought were staying there.

Miss Eley said that after Healy was arrested he claimed he had been injured as a result of falling from his bike and a paramedic was called to examine him.

During police interviews he claimed he had met some people in a pub who said they were staying at a house in Bent Hill and he had decided to call in and see them on his way to work.

He claimed the front door of the property had been half open and he had decided to go in and look for his friends after calling out and not getting a reply. He had walked down the corridor and had gone into a bedroom when a teenage girl walked in.

Healy, 38, of Seaward Avenue, Leiston, has denied burglary with intent to steal on August 14.

Miss Eley alleged Healy had been bending over a backpack and a mobile phone when a 16-year-old girl who was staying at the property with her family had walked into her bedroom.

She alleged that when the girl challenged Healy he said, “I thought I was renting this house” and when she said she was going to get her mother he had said “No” and had started to edge past her before walking out of the front door. The trial continues today.