A mother-of-one from Dundee has told how her life was “turned upside down” after she woke up to find a thief in her home.
Samantha Dolan, 29, was at her house in the Ardler area of the city, along with her 10-year-old daughter when Alexander Westwater entered her home and stole a mobile phone.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard how Samantha woke in her living room to see Westwater standing nearby and when she started screaming, the 35-year-old climbed out of a window to escape.
Samantha said: “I don’t feel like me anymore. I can’t sleep at nights, the least little noise creeps me out.
“I am up and down checking my doors and windows constantly.
“There’s only so many times you can check before you start questioning your sanity.
“The scary thing is my phone had been right beside me, so I know that he was right in my personal space when I was sleeping.
“It was terrifying.
“It is unbelievable how one frightening situation can turn your whole life upside down.”
Westwater, a prisoner at Perth, was sentenced to 15 months for the offence but Samantha said that is little consolation to her.
She added: “I don’t feel any better now that he has been jailed.
“It is just a constant battle over whether it will happen again with someone else. I wish I could say the experience has made me more aware, but it hasn’t. I am just more anxious and nervous.
“The worst thing is that my little girl was in the house at the time and she heard me screaming and shouting at him to get out the house.
“The repercussions have gone right through my whole life.”