A WOMAN has told how she came face-to-face with a masked man who crept into her bedroom in the dead of night as he tried to burgle her home.

Ria Abbiss visited the burglar in prison as part of a restorative justice programme, looked him in the eye and asked him why he had targeted her home in Loftus, east Cleveland, as she and her children slept.

Cleveland’s Police and Crime commissioner Barry Coppinger has championed the cause of restorative justice, which offers victims the chance to meet perpetrators face-to-face, in a controlled environment, and explain how the crime has affected them.

Ms Abbiss spoke emotionally at a special event at Cleveland Police’s headquarters to mark International Restorative Justice Week – and urged other victims to try it.

She was asleep, in her home, with two of her teenage children earlier this year when a man walked into her room. At first she thought it was her son.

“I went out on to the landing and there was a man wearing a balaclava," she said.

“I hit him in the back between the shoulder blades and told him to get out of my house.

“I was just thinking, has he got a knife, or is he going to hit me."

The man ran away - but a few weeks later the house was burgled again, while she was away and her sons were at home.

The burglar was caught after raiding more than 60 homes in the area.

Ms Abbiss knew him from when she was younger and said she was shocked when she found out he lived in the next village.

She could not sleep for more than three hours a night. “Every little noise woke me,” she said. “I didn’t feel safe at home.

“When I went to see him in prison it was very emotional. He apologised for what he had done and explained his mother and sister had died within a short period of time and he had just flipped.

“I don’t feel sorry for him. He shouldn’t have done it. But speaking to him did help. I feel like I can move on.”

Restorative Cleveland was officially launched yesterday and has received 25 referrals. Cleveland Police have been using it at a lower level for two years, in almost 2,000 cases.

It was used in one case when a teen who was applying for the army got caught shoplifting in a corner shop. Instead of prosecuting him police encouraged him to help out in the shop, and he was still able to join the army.

“It could have ruined his life, but it didn’t have to,” said Mr Coppinger.

“It is hoped that by raising awareness of Restorative Cleveland more victims can benefit from having their voices heard, enabling them to move forward with their lives.”