A burglar who has “devastated” the life of a 90-year-old Black Country grandmother for just £38 has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Stephen Hall, aged 29, of Forest Road, Dudley, was sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday after admitting the “cruel and mean offence”. The court heard how his elderly victim has since stopped going to the shops daily and halted her much-loved trips to bingo. The woman, who’s identity was not released by the court, is now too frightened to leave her house.

The masked raider burst into her bedroom at 4am three months ago. She lives alone in Dudley and has even had to move her bed downstairs in a bid to get a good night’s sleep.

But the court heard she was still terrified every time she shuts her eyes and her health has deteriorated and her confidence is shattered

She is now regarded as so vulnerable prosecutors asked for her name and address not to be made public in case she is targeted again.

Life has become son intolerable that she could now be forced to quit the house where she has enjoyed living for the past 20 years and move into sheltered accommodation.

Recorder Stephen Campbell said: “This was a particularly cruel and mean offence that terrified a vulnerable old lady and devastated her life.”

Prosecutor Miss Balwinder Bhatti told how how the woman woke to find Hall with his face covered by a scarf at the foot of her bed after breaking into the property via a downstairs window.

“She was trembling and crying as he shone a flashlight in her eyes and pulled the phone cable out of the wall,” continued the lawyer. “He kept asking for her handbag and when he found it, looked inside and said: ‘Is that all?’”

He escaped with £38 cash and her bingo card. “The woman was so frightened that she locked herself in the bathroom until he left.”

Hall had a string of previous convictions including two for house burglaries and Miss Wendy Miller, defending, concluded: “He apologises to the victim for the suffering caused.”

The victim said: “It has had a devastating impact. Since it happened I have been absolutely petrified. I am like a prisoner in my own home. This has turned my life upside down.”