AN 81-YEAR-old disabled woman whose home was ransacked as she slept has had her life blighted by the crime, a court was told.

A second elderly woman was also left nervous after confronting a burglar at a Darlington charity centre where she worked.

Yesterday, Peter Beevers, 37, of Sanderson Street, Darlington, was jailed for four-and-a-half years for the part he played in both crimes.

Paul Cleasby, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court how on April 3 last year a 70-year-old volunteer worker was about to close up the Mind premises in Darlington when she was confronted by a man in the building.

The man was grabbed by the woman, but he managed to escape, taking her handbag with him.

Fingerprints found outside a window matched those of Beevers.

Nine days later, said Mr Cleasby, an 81-year-old woman, who suffers from arthritis, awoke at 6.45am to find her Darlington home in a "total mess", with £1,400 worth of items missing, including jewellery from her bedroom.

Beevers also admitted seven offences of using stolen credit cards to obtain petrol and confectionery.

Defence counsel Dan Cordey said Beevers had been with another man at both incidents and that he had acted as lookout.