A FRAIL, elderly woman was left terrified when she was confronted in her home by a masked intruder, a judge heard at Manchester Crown Court.

Drug addict Robert Shorthouse ordered his victim to stay in her armchair while he ransacked her home and stole jewellery, said Nicholas Clarke, prosecuting.

Shorthouse, of Oak Lane, Whitefield, also unplugged her telephone and ordered her to wait ten minutes before raising the alarm, but her grip was so weak it took her 45 minutes to reconnect the instrument, said counsel.

She was one of a number of burglary victims targeted by Shorthouse in the Crumpsall area.

In a few weeks 23-year-old Shorthouse broke into 25 premises, mainly houses, and stole property worth more than £16,000, none of which has been recovered.

He sold most of it in pubs and sold jewellery in pawn-shops using the money to feed his drug addiction.

Shorthouse was jailed for six years after he admitted the 25 burglaries. But he must also serve an extra 17 months of an earlier sentence he was on parole from at the time of his crime spree.

Shorthouse was released from that sentence - imposed for robbery - in January and soon afterwards began burgling houses and commercial premises in Crumpsall.

He would usually get in through windows or by kicking in door panels but, said Mr Clarke, the most serious offence involved the elderly woman who was asleep when Shorthouse broke in. He was masked and told her he needed money for drugs. She told him she was a pensioner but he searched her home and stole her jewellery which was of great sentimental value to her.

Miss Elizabeth Nicholls, defending, said Shorthouse had been drug-free since his arrest. "He acknowledges the trauma he has caused to his victims and is mortified by his behaviour towards those householders," she added.

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