TWO policemen could be in line for bravery awards after they subdued a burglar wielding a ceremonial mace, York Crown Court heard.

John Paul Harris, 24, aggressively swung the weapon at PC Richard Farrar, and threatened to kill officers as they tried to arrest him shortly after midnight, said John Boumphrey, prosecuting.

But despite his violence, which continued after he was put in a police van, PC Farrar and PC Andrew Lewis managed to disarm him and lock him up.

The police were responding to a 999 call from householder Deker Ashton, who saw Harris, and accomplice Lee Barry Coombs, looting his home in Horner Street, when he was at a neighbour's.

PC Farrar spotted Harris by the side of the building and called on him to stop, said Mr Boumphrey.

Police dog handler Harold Watt found Coombs hiding two-and-a-half metres up a nearby tree.

"You typically and characteristically thought you would fight your way out of it," Judge Jim Spencer QC told Harris as he jailed him for a year.

Mr Boumphrey said the courage of PCs Farrar and Lewis has earned them recommendations for a national bravery award.

The mace belonged to Mr Ashton, who kept it as an ornament.

Harris, of Fossway, York, and Coombs, 21, of Kingsway North, Clifton, York, pleaded guilty to burglary. Harris also admitted attempting to cause actual bodily harm to PC Farrar, and Coombs admitted perverting the course of justice by pretending to be his cousin when he was arrested, and failure to attend York Crown Court in December. Coombs's case was adjourned for a drug order assessment. He has already served three months for skipping bail.

For Harris, Nicholas Barker said his clienbt had drunk ten pints during an all-day pub session before the burglary and had only been the look-out. He had panicked when confronted by police. Coombs had decided to steal the mace.

For Coombs, Sam Green said his client had given his cousin's name in panic. He had skipped bail partly because he wanted to spend Christmas with his family.

Updated: 10:35 Thursday, March 25, 2004