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A pair of burglar brothers who broke into a stroke victim’s home have been jailed.

Raymond and Paul Downing were caught red-handed by police inside the victim’s house on Hartlepool’s Central Estate after a concerned neighbour reported them.

They broke into the house in Bridgepool Close shortly after the owner, described in court as a vulnerable and elderly lady, went out around lunchtime on February 7.

She noticed two men acting suspiciously in an alleyway, said Matthew Hopkins, prosecuting.

The burglary took place at an address in Bridgepool Close.

After she left they were seen tapping on the letter box before going to the back of the house and climbed over the gate.

The concerned neighbour called the police who attended soon afterwards.

Mr Hopkins said: "They noticed the kitchen window at the back of the property which had been smashed. The defendants, Paul and Raymond Downing were found inside the house.”

Raymond, 52, was holding some of the home owner’s medication which she needed following strokes and for her heart.

He told police he wanted to go to jail. The home owner returned shortly afterwards.

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Mr Hopkins added: “She went to her bedroom and found that the door was broken. A TV had been ripped off the wall.”

Her bedclothes were also covered with blood.

In an impact statement taken soon after the crime, she said the incident had left her “devastated”.

"I no longer feel safe in my home address,” she said. “I feel violated. They entered my home, my safe place.”

Both brothers, who each have long records, admitted burglary with intent to steal.

Martin Scarborough, for Paul Downing, 51, of Helmsley Street, Hartlepool, said while his client had a number of burglaries on his record, most were not for breaking into homes.

He said his client’s best mitigation was that he pleaded guilty.

Michael Cahill, for Raymond Downing, of Stephen Street, Hartlepool, said he was “realistic” about the outcome of the case.

The Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Paul Watson, told the pair: “You were knocking on doors, basically to see if you could find somewhere suitable to enter and steal from.

"The house you chose was the house of an elderly lady with personal vulnerabilities.”

Paul Downing was jailed for 18 months and Raymond Downing for 14 months.

Hartlepool brothers jailed at Teesside Crown Court for burgling stroke victim's home