A machete-wielding burglar was jailed for eight years last night after he forced his way into an elderly woman's home and threatened to kill her.

Sheila Walton was left terrified and distraught when 26-year-old Stephen Nagy pulled out a machete on the doorstep of her Middlesbrough home.

He then forced his way into the house, held the weapon to her face, and told the 69-year-old, "I will kill you and you cat."

At one point, Mrs Walton feared she was going to be raped when Nagy demanded she took off her coat, Teesside Crown Court heard.

She needed medication for her nerves and had to move from her Netherfields home following the break-in on March 21, said prosecutor John Gillette.

Nagy, who is currently serving a three year and a half year prison sentence for wounding, told his victim that he wanted money. Mr Gillette said: "He demanded £10, she only had £5 that she gave to him hoping that he would go away.

"He did not go away. He went through the house searching all the rooms, including the bedrooms. He then came up to her, told her to remove her coat and searched both her and the coat for more money. He left 20 minutes later, telling her not to call the police."

Nagy, of Chathill Walk, Ormesby, was caught following a police appeal for information in the local media.

A month later, while on police bail for the aggravated burglary and wounding charge, Nagy burgled a house in Beverley Road, Nunthorpe and stole £603 in cash and other items.

Judge Michael Taylor told the court he thought the police had taken leave of their senses to have released Nagy on police bail, which then allowed him to commit another offence.

"You should have been locked up by the police," he said, " but they let you back on the streets."

Defending, Johnnie Walker said his client, who pleaded guilty to both charges, had expressed remorse for the incidents. Nagy was sentenced to eight years for aggravated burglary and three and a half years for burglary to run concurrently.