A burglar has been sentenced to jail after repeatedly breaking into a pensioner's home and being caught on camera creeping around her as she was sleeping.
After Margaret Woodward's flat was burgled several times, police installed hidden cameras to find out who the culprit was.
They saw Patrick Reid break in to her living room as she was sleeping in an armchair, then creep around looking for belongings to steal.
The 68-year-old woke up during the burglary - but rather than being intimidated, she chased the thief away with her walking stick.
Reid, 51, escaped through the window of the ground-floor flat in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, but police were able to find him thanks to the surveillance cameras' eerie footage.
Mrs Woodward has now been given an award for her 'pluck and courage' in confronting the repeat offender, who targeted her no fewer than five times.
The pensioner suffers from severe arthritis, and said that having her home ransacked so many times made her feel suicidal.
'The fact that someone was touching me while I slept and I didn't know, made me feel like I didn't want to live any more,' she said. 'I felt like it wasn't my home any more, it was his home.'
When she woke up and saw that the burglar had returned, she thought: 'This time, I'm going to get you.'
Reid stole a total of £900 from Mrs Woodward over the course of a year.
Judge Jonathan Gosling sentenced Reid to four years and eight months in jail at a hearing in May last year.
He praised Mrs Woodward at a ceremony recognising the victim's bravery and awarding her a grant of £1,500 from the High Sheriff's fund.
'Some of us may have been unlucky in the past to have been burgled more than once, but I expect none of us have experienced what Margaret has had to,' the judge said.
'She was burgled by the same man no less than five times.'
Mr Gosling added: 'In the footage Reid walks right up to her chair, satisfies himself that she is asleep, steps around the chair and then looks in her mobility scooter.
'Suddenly she wakes up to find him at arm's length away. Does she scream for help?
'No, Margaret, who cannot move easily at speed, gets up quickly from her chair and, stick aloft, chased him from her home.'
After Margaret Woodward's flat was burgled several times, police installed hidden cameras to find out who the culprit was.
They saw Patrick Reid break in to her living room as she was sleeping in an armchair, then creep around looking for belongings to steal.
The 68-year-old woke up during the burglary - but rather than being intimidated, she chased the thief away with her walking stick.
Reid, 51, escaped through the window of the ground-floor flat in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, but police were able to find him thanks to the surveillance cameras' eerie footage.
Mrs Woodward has now been given an award for her 'pluck and courage' in confronting the repeat offender, who targeted her no fewer than five times.
The pensioner suffers from severe arthritis, and said that having her home ransacked so many times made her feel suicidal.
'The fact that someone was touching me while I slept and I didn't know, made me feel like I didn't want to live any more,' she said. 'I felt like it wasn't my home any more, it was his home.'
When she woke up and saw that the burglar had returned, she thought: 'This time, I'm going to get you.'
Reid stole a total of £900 from Mrs Woodward over the course of a year.
Judge Jonathan Gosling sentenced Reid to four years and eight months in jail at a hearing in May last year.
He praised Mrs Woodward at a ceremony recognising the victim's bravery and awarding her a grant of £1,500 from the High Sheriff's fund.
'Some of us may have been unlucky in the past to have been burgled more than once, but I expect none of us have experienced what Margaret has had to,' the judge said.
'She was burgled by the same man no less than five times.'
Mr Gosling added: 'In the footage Reid walks right up to her chair, satisfies himself that she is asleep, steps around the chair and then looks in her mobility scooter.
'Suddenly she wakes up to find him at arm's length away. Does she scream for help?
'No, Margaret, who cannot move easily at speed, gets up quickly from her chair and, stick aloft, chased him from her home.'
Source : DailyMail
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