A sticky-fingered thief got more than his comeuppance after a neighbour taught him a lesson with his fists.

The 30-year-old thief climbed into a house and nabbed a phone at 7:10am in the capital’s Tuol Kork district but was promptly apprehended by the home owner, who cried for help.

Your average neighbour might lend a cup of sugar, but this one managed to catch the would-be-thief and proceeded to beat him unconscious.

Police said it was not the first time the defeated thief had served time because of his stealing habits.

Nokorwat