A PENSIONER suffered a panic attack after confronting a drug addict who stole a purse and cash from her home.

The 66-year-old woman ran after Robert Dunn after hearing her garden gate slam and noticing her purse missing from her handbag at her home in Hartlepool.

Dunn at first denied the theft, but prosecutor Emma Atkinson told Teesside Crown Court the victim reached into his pockets and discovered her purse, although a quantity of cash was missing.

She said at this point the woman panicked and began to struggle for breath and returned to her home, locking herself inside.

Dunn, 55, of King Oswy Drive, Hartlepool, later returned to the property and claimed he had only been borrowing the stolen money for a few days.

He also stated only £15 had been taken, not the £50 the woman insisted had gone.

He also moaned: “I thought we were friends?”

The defendant, who was known to the victim, was arrested by police and said he had knocked on the door and when there was no answer he opened it and went inside, spotting the handbag and taking the purse.

Miss Atkinson said there had been an element of planning in the burglary and it had been a targeted offence.

But Martin Scarborough, mitigating, said the burglary had been opportunistic.

He said Dunn would welcome help for his drug addiction and to work with probation services.

Mr Scarborough said: “He has a long standing drugs problem and cuts a sad and lonely figure.”

Dunn admitted burglary on April 25 this year. The court heard he had two other domestic burglaries among 19 previous convictions on his record, but these dated back to the 1990s.

Judge Sean Morris told Dunn that it had been a despicable thing to do with the victim having helped him in the past.

He said Dunn was a “pathetic character”, but he was prepared to give him a chance.

The judge gave him a 10 month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, which will include a six month drug rehabilitation requirement and 14 days rehabilitation activity requirement.