A retired police sergeant tackled two armed raiders who broke into a neighbour’s home.
Kenneth Alen, 67, was punched and left with injuries to his arms and a split lip after confronting the masked thieves in South Woodford, trapping them inside the property of a woman and her young family until officers arrived.
Former Tower Hamlets officer Mr Alen said: “As I got to the door it opened, and I was then in a situation of defend, to delay, to detain.
"They started throwing punches at me which I defended, sustaining tissue and bruises to my arms. But one punch got through and they cut my lip and knocked my glasses off.”
Pc Natalia Kolodziej then chased the thieves into the kitchen, where she grappled with them.
David Hansen, 27, and Sean Bello, 24, were found with lock knives and a haul of gold bracelets and necklaces.
At Snaresbrook crown court, Hansen was sentenced to nine years for aggravated burglary and Bello to seven and a half years for the same offence.
