Chilling footage has been released showing a burglar standing over a sleeping pensioner as he raids her home.
The footage captured Patrick Reid, 51, looming over Margaret Woodward as she naps in an armchair in front of the television at her home in Long Eaton, Derbyshire.
Mrs Woodward, 68, was subjected to five burglaries on her home in a year, and said she was left feeling terrified.
She told the Daily Mail: “It was very frightening to wake up knowing there was somebody in my house but I was determined not to let him get away.”
Brazen Reid, wearing a blue top with the hood up and a rucksack on his back, was caught on film during the April incident after police installed cameras in Mrs Woodward’s home to catch the culprit.
He is seen tiptoeing around the dozing pensioner, often at times just inches from her face, and seen lifting her handbag from the basket of her mobility scooter and rifling through the contents.
In the last raid Mrs Woodward was woken when Reid set off an alarm and the brave pensioner chased him away with her walking stick.
Mrs Woodward, who suffers from severe arthritis in both knees, told the newspaper she wanted to break his kneecaps so he could not escape.
“I thought I’d be able to get him but he ran into my bedroom, jumped on to the bed and went straight out of the window like a gymnast tackling a hobby horse,” she said.
She was awarded £1,500 for her pluck from the High Sheriff’s fund, Derbyshire Police said.
Reid was later jailed for four years and eight months for two burglaries.
Detective Constable Gill Richardson, the investigating officer in the case, said: “The CCTV footage is chilling to watch and it’s particularly shocking how brazen Reid is in it, being just inches away from Margaret.
“It’s something that just gets more shocking the more times you see it.
“We install these cameras in homes where someone has been a repeat victim of crime, or where we believe the homeowner is vulnerable.
“This case shows just how valuable they are and these cameras have helped bring to justice a prolific burglar, who caused such a massive amount of distress to his victim.”