A PREACHER who caught a man trying to steal his wife s car has told how he hit the teenager over the head with a petrol can before chasing him down the street. Ken Brown, 59, of Weatheralls Close, Soham, was slashed across the knuckles with a knife by th

A PREACHER who caught a man trying to steal his wife's car has told how he hit the teenager over the head with a petrol can before chasing him down the street.

Ken Brown, 59, of Weatheralls Close, Soham, was slashed across the knuckles with a knife by the potential thief before the attacker escaped.

Mr Brown, a Methodist lay-preacher on the Newmarket circuit and inventory controller at G's Marketing in Ely, had been about to put petrol into his wife's vehicle outside his house when he saw a light come on in the car, and a figure hunched behind the dashboard.

"My reaction was disbelief, really," he said.

"He was just about to try and start the car. I opened the door and he was lying across the front seat.

"I managed to hit him over the head with the petrol can, but I didn't realise he had a knife."

The thief lashed out with the knife, causing minor cuts to Mr Brown's hand.

"I then stepped back to give him a chance to run off - in hindsight I should've just shouted at him."

Mr Brown gave chase but the thief disappeared down an alley behind the house.

He said the incident has marred his otherwise peaceful experience of Weatheralls Close.

"It's normally lovely and quiet here and that's why we decided to move here," he said.

INFO: Anyone with information about the incident on December 5, at 10.25pm, is asked to contact police on 0845 456 4564, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

The offender is described as white, aged 15-16, of slight build and with curly hair.

He was wearing a light threequarter-length jacket and dark trousers.