A burglar has been caught on CCTV creeping around the home of a sleeping pensioner.
Chilling footage shows Patrick Reid looming over Margaret Woodward, who is napping in front of the television.
Police installed cameras at the home of Mrs Woodward, 68, in Long Eaton, Derbyshire after repeated burglaries.
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Brazen Reid, 51, wearing a blue top with the hood up and a rucksack on his back, 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.
Reid sneaks around the house
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.
Reid eventually woke the pensioner, and she tried to chase him away
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."