A blundering burglar found himself in a headlock after he was caught breaking into – a wrestler’s house.
Lee Christie, 38, got more than he bargained for when he broke into the home of 20-stone Adam Kalinowski in April.
Man-mountain Adam, 37, confronted Christie who said ‘Oh sh*t’ before he began sobbing when the wrestler used his signature move on him – a ‘Nelson’ headlock.
Adam – a former wrestling champion in his native Poland – shouted out to his neighbour who called the police.
Factory-worker Adam kept a struggling Christie in the headlock for 20 minutes until officers arrived.
Christie admitted breaking into Adam’s home in Earlsdon, Coventry at 10am on April 19 and was jailed for two years.
After the case, at Coventry Crown Court, dad-of-one Adam who now works in a factory, said: ”I come home and the door is broken.
”I see the man, I mean this guy is big and I do not know what he was doing there or what was in the bag, maybe a knife.
”Maybe it was the adrenaline, but I was not scared because this is my house, my castle as you say in England.
”He looked at me, said ‘Oh sh*t’ and pushed me onto the wall so I gave him a kick in the stomach and he slowed down.
”I know how to wrestle, I like fighting sports, so I got him in a Nelson [headlock].
”He was trying to get up so I had to punch him in the head.
”My neighbour called the police and I held him until they came.
”He [Christie] was crying, saying ‘leave me alone’ but he was lucky I did not kill him because of how I felt at the time.
”He was saying he needs money for narcotics. He must have been desperate.
”He was stealing my son’s laptop but I am not a rich man. We are in bad times, a recession.”
Jailing Christie, who had previous convictions for burglary, Judge Marten Coates told him: ”It’s a good ten years since you have been in trouble.
”It’s a pity to see you returning on this occasion.”
