Police hunting a burglar discovered that it was a neighbour, a court heard yesterday.

Officers installed a video camera in a house where money was going missing, and it filmed a woman neighbour sneaking in at 3am.

Marie Rowbotham, 34, from Hartlepool, had been given a key for emergencies, said Peter Makepeace, prosecuting.

Mr Makepeace told Teesside Crown Court that Rowbotham had been a good neighbour to Linda Richards, 52, when she had surgery for cancer, by cleaning, cooking and looking after the children.

He said: "Mrs Richardson began to believe that small sums of money were going missing from her purse.

"She refused to believe that her friend could be responsible, but after consultation with the police she agreed to place a covert video camera in the living room of her home."

Mrs Richards' daughter also began to keep observations and at 3am on September 26 last year she noticed Rowbotham leave her home wearing only a nightdress, and then let herself in. She left the house two minutes later.

The video showed Rowbotham searching the purse and taking a £10 note. She was arrested the same day.

Stephen Constantine, defending, said: "This was a lady upon whom pressure was building."

Judge Guy Whitburn told Rowbotham: "What you did on this particular night was a very mean and nasty offence."

Rowbotham, of Hawthorn Walk, was given a two-year community rehabilitation order after she pleaded guilty to the burglary and £10 theft.