Forget thick as thieves, this was the thickest thief of all - left dangling upside down after getting wedged trying to break through a family's front window.

Bungling burglar John Michael Pearce has been branded "the world's dumbest thief" by house owner Paul Ives and his partner Angela Gloyn.

Mr Ives, who arrived home to find Pearce hanging from the window with a hammer in his hand, was even told by the clumsy crook that he wasn't stealing but instead "stopping the burglars".

Pearce, 32, had to be freed from the window in Dartford, by police and paramedics last Thursday at 5pm.

Pearce, 32, of Browning Road, Dartford, pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to steal at Dartford Magistrates' Court on Friday and was remanded in custody. Pearce will be sentenced, following pre-sentence reports, at the same court on Friday, September 5.

Full story in this week's Dartford Messenger