A plucky 84-year-old drove an intruder out of her home in the middle of the night by repeatedly hitting him with her father's walking stick, a court heard.
Frail Doris Thiele refused to be intimidated when she caught serial burglar Leon Ingram, 34, searching the house she shares with her daughter Helen.
Furious at seeing their Hampshire home invaded, the two women grabbed burly Ingram in a head lock to stop him getting away.
Doris then grabbed her late father's walking stick, which was hanging over the banister, and struck Ingram several times as he wrestled with her daughter.
Brave pensioner Doris Thiele from the New Forest demonstrates how she fought off a serial burglar with a walking stick
The brave widow, who is just 5ft 3in tall and 7st 6lbs, said she decided against smashing him over the head with a vase in case she accidentally killed him.
Ingram, who is a towering 6ft 3in, struggled to break free during the tussle that began in an upstairs room and ended in their conservatory.
In the end, he was so desperate to escape the two women he head-butted his way through a glass door, cutting his head in the process.
Police arrived minutes later and followed the trail of blood to a nearby flat, where Ingram was arrested.
Mrs Thiele and her daughter, 59, were presented with police bravery awards for tackling the intruder and ending a 'one-man crimewave'.
Ingram, from New Milton, Hants, admitted burglary when he appeared at Southampton Crown Court.
Serial burglar: Leon Ingram got more than he bargained for while searching the pensioner's house
The heroin user, who had 32 previous convictions, was jailed for three years by Recorder Adam Feest, who took four other burglaries and four shoplifting offences into consideration.
Describing Ingram's tussle with Mrs Thiele and her daughter, he said: 'You threw your weight around with complete disregard for their safety.'
Speaking after the case, 84-year-old Doris described how she woke up at 3am and realised one of the upstairs lights was on at their home in New Milton.
She got up to investigate and discovered Ingram searching the spare bedroom.
'I decided to stand my ground but screamed when he came towards me,' she said. My daughter rushed out of her room and put her arm around his neck, trapping him in a head lock.
She added: 'He kept shouting "wrong house - let me go" but I grabbed my father's walking stick and kept hitting him around the head, neck and shoulders.
'My daughter clung on like grim death and I gave him a good bruising.He was 6ft 3in and muscular, my daughter is 5ft 6in and I'm only 5ft 3in but the two of us had more strength than he or we could have imagined.
'It should send a message to other would-be burglars that pensioners are not a soft touch. If someone comes onto your property you should be able to fight them off in any way you want.
Doris added, 'At one point, I picked up a slipper to hit him with but remember muttering: 'That's no b****y good!' 'It was then I spotted the walking stick and knew that would do the trick.'
Doris worked for the Australian Air Force in London at the end of the Second World War and later became a civil servant.
THE THIELE'S AWARD
'You are commended for your bravery in restraining a persistent house burglar who entered your home while you were asleep.
'You courageously confronted the burglar and your valiant efforts resulted in the burglar promptly vacating your home while leaving behind valuable forensic evidence which led to his identification and bringing to an end a series of similar burglaries.'
She was widowed when her daughter was only five years old and worked long hours to keep a roof over their heads.
She said: 'I didn't work hard all my life to give our stuff away to a drug addict who fancied rummaging through my cupboards. He was disrespectful and insulting.'
In court David Reid, defending, said Ingram 'felt terrible' about scaring Mrs Thiele and had sent her a letter of apology.
He added: 'In interview he admitted the other offences to wipe the slate clean.
'He has done his best to help recover items he has stolen, including taking police to pawnbrokers.'
Mrs Thiele and her daughter have been presented with police bravery awards.