An Aberdeen thief has been jailed after an 83-year-old woman woke to find him crouching in her bedroom next to a kitchen knife.
The brave pensioner gave chase after Clark Bowie, 42, but he escaped with jewellery and cash worth almost £10,000.
Bowie, a prisoner at HMP Grampian, previously pled guilty to breaking into the house in the Rosemount area of Aberdeen on February 22 and stealing jewellery, money and a purse.
He also admitted breaking into a flat on Frederick Street, Aberdeen, on February 13 and stealing a games console and equipment, games and medication.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin jailed Bowie for 18 months and told him: “It must have been extremely frightening for the elderly lady.
“Her presence in the house is a significant aggravating factor.”
Depute fiscal Katy Begg said the value of the items taken was £9,677.
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Defence agent Christopher Maitland told Aberdeen Sheriff Court his client did not realise the value of the items.
He said: “He has absolutely no recollection of these offences and has simply accepted his responsibility on the basis of the evidence presented to him.”
He said “things started to go wrong” for Bowie when he lost his job in 2017, adding he “suffered from clinical depression and started to relapse into drug use”.
He said his client had consumed a “cocktail of drugs” at the time and said: “One has to assume these were acquisitive crimes for the purpose of buying drugs.”
Ms Begg previously told the court: “At 1.20am the witness was awoken by the accused crouching by her dressing table in her bedroom. On being disturbed he quickly exited her room.”
Ms Begg said a kitchen knife was found on the floor where he had been standing.
Following the last hearing, the pensioner told The Evening Express: “I just remember sitting up and there was a mound – then the face appeared.
“I went chasing after him and I saw all the bedroom doors open.
“The jewellery boxes were all laid out on the floor and I looked at my ring box and I shook it and realised the rings were gone and the necklaces. What was the really scary bit is when I saw the 12-inch knife, which had been taken out of the kitchen drawer.
“For weeks I had to have my family and friends stay most weeks. It was horrendous. Any noise or any creak panicked me – it was awful.”
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