burglar Lee Woodward was slapped in the face by his victim's daughter, a court was told.

Magistrates heard how Amy Bell, 20, tackled Woodward about his crime when they met in a local pub. But that led to Bell, of Stockwell View, Knaresborough, facing a charge of assault.

The charge was dropped, however, after she agreed to be bound over in the sum of £50 for three months to keep the peace.

Harvey Murray, prosecuting, said that Bell had learned that Woodward was responsible for a burglary at the home she shared with her mother.

Mrs Bell had been working a nightshift on the children's ward of Harrogate District Hospital, but her son - Bell's brother - had been in the house when the raid took place.

Geoffrey Rogers, mitigating, told the court that Bell, a support worker for people with learning difficulties, met Woodward by chance on November 25.

Bell asked him, after hearing he had bragged to others in the pub about his crime, why he had burgled her home.

"His reaction was simply to laugh in her face, so she slapped him across his face and walked away,'' said Mr Rogers.

Woodward was earlier convicted of burglary at York Crown Court and was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.