A teenage burglar who admitted attacking the pensioner who attempted to stop him stealing a neighbour's laptop has walked free after sentencing.

Luke Mansell, or Shropshire, UK, received a 2-year suspended sentence after magistrates were convinced that he was terrified of going to jail.

Mansell's solicitor, Steven Meredith, said that 'for seven months he has been scared to his wits end about what is going to happen in this case', according to The Daily Mail.

'He is screaming out for rehabilitation, the youth offending service assert he has the ability to change, and I am certain you will not see him before these courts again.'

The day of the sentencing, Mansell posted on Facebook that he was going to smoke cannabis in order to calm his nerves.

He had previously posted pictures of him performing a 'zeig heil' Nazi salute in a mirror, and a bong used to smoke cannabis, which he bragged about.

Mansell attacked pensioner Arthur Ball with a five-foot fence post after being apprehended by him during a burglary, but later claimed self-defense, as reported in The Daily Mail.