A KNIFEMAN who burgled a disabled woman’s home in the middle of the night was caught after Bolton News readers recognised him in a police appeal.

The wheelchair-bound woman was woken at her Halliwell sheltered bungalow by noises in her home.

The brave woman got herself out of bed and into her wheelchair to confront the men inside her house and order them to leave.

But brazen Nasser Hussein continued to search her home, claiming he was looking for alcohol.

He left empty handed, but not before his quick-thinking victim had filmed him on her mobile phone.

The crime, at just before 5am on January 19, 2019, was reported to police and an investigation began.

But two months later officers turned to The Bolton News, who published a still photograph from the video, and a reader recognised the burglar as 39-year-old Nasser Hussein, of Firs Road, Bolton.

He was arrested, eventually pleaded guilty to burglary and possessing a knife and at Bolton Crown Court was jailed for 28 months.

“One can only imagine how frightening it must be for anybody to wake up in the middle to the night to find people inside their property,” said Judge Graeme Smith.

“”How much more frightening for a single person who is unable to get around independently and has to use a wheelchair.”

Craig Macgregor, prosecuting, told how the woman had woken to hear noises in her home.

“She called out, ‘who’s there’ and there was no reply,” said Mr Macgregor.

“As she was getting into her wheelchair to investigate, the defendant entered her bedroom,

“He was speaking to another man in a language she did not understand, who was standing by the front door.”

The woman told him to go away, but he put his hand on her shoulder and continued to search her home, saying “drink” and “weed”.

Mr Macgregor said the woman believed the intruder to be drunk and influence of drugs due to his smell.

“She kept on repeating that she would call the police and he said to her, ‘keep quiet please’,” said Mr Macgregor, who added that as Nasser was leaving, the woman saw he had a knife in his pocket.

Mark Friend, defending, stressed that the knife had not been taken out or the woman threatened.

He added that Nasser, who has previous convictions for carrying a knife, drug dealing and motoring offences, had had a period of stability with his partner and children, but had slipped back to his old ways, drinking heavily and taking drugs.

"He was living a somewhat hedonistic lifestyle," said Mr Friend.

Nasser had claimed he walked into the woman’s house because he and his friends were looking for a party

But Judge Smith told him: “How anyone could believe there was a party going on there once you had opened the front door and looked in is beyond me.”