A Falmouth resident changed his mind about being a "have-a-go" hero when a burglar he saw attacking a barbers turned out to have pieces of glass in his hand.

The man had spotted Carl Ascott breaking windows at the Black Dog barber shop in Church Street and taking things from inside, and had sought to confront him, but upon seeing the broken glass he walked away to call the police instead.

On Wednesday Ascott, 43, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at Truro Magistrates' Court to burglary.

The court heard he first broke one window, taking out Star Wars toys that he did not want, and leaving them in the street, and then punched a second window, taking things from there, before leaving.

Ascott also pleaded guilty to five shoplifting offences from shops in the town, and to possessing a five-inch bladed knife in a public place. The knife was found in his possession when he was being taken into custody in a police van.

His solicitor Paul Gallagher said the things Ascott stole had been to buy himself food and drugs. He was homeless, having been ejected from sheltered accommodation he was given when he last came out of prison.

He could not remember the burglary incident, having taken tablets someone told him were Valium, and they had “messed him up“. The knife was one he carried to use to eat with and open tins of food.

Chairman Roger Cargeeg told Ascott, who had numerous previous convictions, that he was a habitual criminal with one of the longest records he had seen in his 30 years on the Bench.

Ascott was sent to prison for nine months, and ordered to pay £150 compensation, the cost of replacing the barber shop windows.