WHEN Cinderford grandmother Judith Gazzard, 69, heard noises in the night it was the sound of drug addict Jason Marshall, 25, breaking into her conservatory.

Not even bothering to wake her husband Julian, plucky Judith crept downstairs to investigate and found the conservatory ransacked and the door ajar.

She spotted a flickering torchlight in the shed a few yards away.

Retired civil servant Judith tiptoed up to the shed door, slammed it shut and quickly bolted it before dashing inside to raise the alarm.

When police officers arrived minutes later they they found Marshall sitting on the shed floor after using his time 'in custody' to eat three Magnum ice creams from Judith's freezer!

At Gloucester Crown Court Marshall, of Cedar House, Coleford, was jailed for 16 months after he admitted burglaring Mr and Mrs Gazzard's home in Wedgewood Crescent, Cinderford, on July 30.

Praising Mrs Gazzard's bravery, Judge William Hart ordered that she be paid a £250 reward by the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire.

Mrs Gazzard said later: "I didn't think for a second about my own safety, I was just really angry that someone had got into my house."

For the full story, pick up The Forester.