Burglar jailed after brave mum, 36, chased him from house while teenage daughter took pictures

A brave mum who pursued a burglar and filmed him as he escaped has seen her video footage help put him behind bars.

Victoria Riley, 36, had only been living in her new house for two days when she returned home to discover Lee Cheney inside.

But rather than let fear paralyse her, the quick-thinking single mum chased him out the house while her daughter, Megan, started taking pictures of him.

The images of Cheney, which show him mounting a wall and looking back at the camera, were shown in court and helped secure a guilty verdict.

Miss Riley of Westlands Drive, Hedon, East Yorkshire, said she just wanted to get him out of her house as quickly as possible and took pictures of Cheney to protect people in her area.

She said: “My daughter got to the house first, went through the door and he was in the kitchen.

“She shouted at him, ‘Get out my house’ and he made up an excuse that he was just bringing our dog in because he saw it in the garden – even though the dog was inside.

“I challenged him straight away and was shouting at him, asking how he got in the house as the front door was locked.

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“I said to him, ‘If you have nothing to hide you won’t mind me taking your photo’, and then he started climbing over the fence.

“I got the pictures and footage and put it on Facebook to get his face out there as we’d seen a rise in break-ins on our estate. I wanted to drive him out of the area.

“It was also evidence for the police that he was in my house.”

The mother and daughter carried on videoing Cheney as he tried to escape and posted pictures of the criminal on her Facebook page where it was shared more than 4,000 times.

Unbeknown to the homeowner, Cheney had stolen a key to her house on December 10 — the day before the burglary.

But thankfully their quick return caught Cheney off guard and he was unable to take anything from the house.

Mum-of-two, Miss Riley, added: “It all just went past in seconds, but it seemed to go on at the time for such a long time.

“I’m a single mum on my own and I just went into protective mum mode and wanted to get him away from my child as quickly as possible.”

Cheney, of Gleneagles Park, Hull, was arrested that night, but committed another crime while on bail.

He was sentenced to 10 months in prison at Hull Magistrates’ Court on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to burglary and attempted burglary.

But knowing Cheney will be back on the streets is “horrendous” for the mum and she intends to move as soon as possible.

She said: “I’m struggling to sleep – every noise I hear outside is worrying. But I am proud of how we reacted on the day because he is behind bars.

“At the end of the day, court and prison is not a deterrent for someone like him. I’m quite concerned that he’ll target me again as I’m the reason why he’s in prison.”