A BUILDER has been hailed a community hero after he fought off an armed burglar who pinned a shotgun to his chest.

Thompsons of Prudhoe construction supervisor John Buchan has been praised after he helped disarm and detain Daniel Hicks as he raided a building site in Walker.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how 26-year-old Hicks had snuck into the site on Losh Terrace on the morning of January 28 and had armed himself with a rusted, sawn-off shotgun, which he later thrusted into the 54-year-old father of two’s chest and began to threaten him and his colleagues.

Hicks, of Melton Avenue, Walker, was arrested and has now been jailed for eight years.

Following the sentence, Mr Buchan said his instincts took over and left him with little choice but to disarm the violent intruder.

“It all happened really quickly”, he said. “I had started to walk towards him and suddenly he had ran up to me and stuck something in my chest. I looked down and saw the gun and just thought ‘bloody hell’. I just thought to myself that I’m going to have to somehow take it off him.

“I had one of the lads to my right and the other to my left and he kept glancing at them. I knew I didn’t have anyone behind him. He turned towards one of them and lifted the gun off my chest and I knew that was my moment so I just grabbed it and pulled it as hard as I could.

“I was able to throw it away and then pin him to the ground. I hadn’t been thinking much before but then on the ground I was terrified. I was worried he had a knife or something but then police arrived and he was arrested. It was over just like that.

“Honestly it was just fight or flight I had no other option and I didn’t want to think about what could happen if I hadn’t done anything.

“Him being jailed draws a line under it. He deserves what he got. People are human beings and don’t deserve to be treated like that.

“It was the talk of the building community and has stuck with me a bit. Everyone knows about it and says something. I’m just glad everyone was okay.”

At the sentencing hearing, Mr Buchan was praised by a judge and was hailed a community hero by detective superintendent John Bensley of Northumbria Police.

Describing John as a well-liked and long-serving member of staff who has been with Thompsons for more than 30 years, a company spokesman added: “Tackling an armed intruder is not something we would normally expect our employees to do. But all of us at Thompsons are very proud of what John did in defusing a dangerous situation that could have posed a real risk both to his colleagues and members of the public.”

Hicks admitted burglary, possessing a firearm when prohibited and possessing a prohibited firearm.