Carl Sinclair hounded for 11 months after tackling burglar cleared in just half an hour
A HERO dad spent 11 months fearing jail after he tackled a burglar trying to break into his car.
Jurors took just 30 minutes to clear Carl Sinclair, 47, of wounding drug addict Hughie Hendry.
Brave Carl ran out to confront the crook in just his boxer shorts clutching a lump hammer after wife Nicola, 41, saw Hendry outside and screamed for help.
Carl was at home with Nicola, daughters Natalie, 20, and Chelsea, 16, and 20-year-old son Ryan, who were all asleep.
He said he feared his “kids’ throats being cut” after Hendry threatened to stab him with a knife he believed the well known local crook was carrying.
Today he told This Morning's Holly and Phil how he threw down the hammer before wrestling Hendry to the ground.
Carl and Nicola were home with their three children at the time of the attackHe said: "I ran towards him and grabbed hold of him. All the time he was shouting, 'You're dead Sinclair'.
"I hit him and hit him until he stopped."
He punched Hendry around 20 times as he continued threatening the family.
When cops arrived they arrested Carl.
Hendry got eight weeks’ jail for interfering with the family’s car in Doncaster, South Yorks.
Carl lost his job as a railway safety manager over the stress of his arrest last December and the wait for his trial.
He told the Daily Mirror: “My life has been left in tatters. I’m just a dad and a husband who did what any man would do to protect his family.
“Yet for 11 months I’ve faced going to prison. The justice system is a farce.”
The Crown Prosecution Service said: “We respect the decision the jury has reached.”