A Masterson father has fought off an alleged burglar with a baseball bat, whacking him across the back and legs after he sneaked on to his property for the second time in two nights. Bradley Churchward, 43, was on edge after his elderly neighbours were burgled on Friday night, the same night his 14-year-old son heard someone rummaging through their shed, putting the father on high alert. Then on Saturday night while lying in bed, Churchward saw a shadow through his bedroom window.
“I was thinking, ‘Is this guy going to come back?’” he told the Herald . “My neighbours had been in tears after having their car broken into the night before. My son had heard rummaging in the shed as well.
” Worried it was a burglar, he told his son to hide under the bed while he grabbed his baseball bat. Churchward could see the alleged burglar walking on to his property right under his son’s bedroom window. That’s when he walked outside to confront the man.
“My son was already quite scared. So my parenting instincts kicked in. Someone’s already been on my property.
There he was walking up my footpath, a black thing around his face, right under my boy’s bedroom window. I had a split-second decision to make whether to confront the guy or not. So I grabbed the bat and ran outside.
“I was on my lawn...
he hadn’t seen me. I popped out beside my letterbox and said, ‘Hey mother f***er are you robbing houses around here again?’ “He said ‘Eh, f*** off!’ Then he took a st.
