A NURSE has been left deeply traumatised and unable to work after thieves broke in to her home while she was sleeping.

The terrified Greenock woman woke to being confronted face-to-face with two burglars.

Crack cocaine addict Daniel Jannetts, 42, is today beginning a prison sentence after pleading guilty to the shocking offence.

His former co-accused Alan Smith, 43, had his not guilty plea accepted after he admitted to a £6,000 smash and grab raid at a supermarket.

Sheriff Andrew McIntyre told Jannetts: "You have an absolutely shocking criminal record and you broke in to this lady's home whilst she was there.

"I don't know if you have seen the victim impact statement but I can tell you that you caused her extreme distress."

Prosecutor Emma Jeffrey told how the nurse was dozing at the end of a long hospital shift when Jannetts and another man burst in.

The pair gained access to a common close near Greenock West Railway Station by 'unknown means' and broke in to her flat at around 3pm on March 15.

Fiscal depute Miss Jeffrey said: "The witness was asleep in her living room when she heard male voices.

"She was alarmed and observed two males and shouted for them to get out.

"She was left extremely shaken and upset."

Homeless Jannetts made off with the victim's bank card but his not guilty plea to using it to buy booze and tobacco was accepted.

Smith admitted smashing his way into Greenock's Lidl store three days prior to the raid on the nurse's home.

He helped himself to three bottles of vodka worth a total of £43.

However, the sheriff court was told that the damage and loss of trade amounted to £6,000.

Miss Jeffrey said: "At 4am on March 12 the accused approached the store which was locked and secured.

"He entered the premises by smashing a window and made his way to the alcohol aisle."

Smith, who is also homeless and was living at the Inverclyde Centre along with Jannetts at the time, also admitted to stealing an Oil of Olay gift set from Semichem on West Stewart Street by stuffing it inside his zipped-up jacket.

He told police: "I don't know what I'm doing."

Defence lawyer Aidan Gallagher said of burglar Jannetts: "He accepts that he entered the property and lifted the bank card, not necessarily knowing that anyone was in the flat.

"Mr Jannetts appreciates that this would have been a very disturbing incident for the complainer.

"He apologises, for what it is worth, for the housebreaking and the distress that he caused."

Mr Gallagher said that Smith was addicted to crack cocaine and illicit valium and that Jannetts has 'similar issues'.

He added: "This led to desperate acts to feed that addiction."

In sentencing Jannetts to 18 months behind bars, Sheriff McIntyre told him: "This woman is a nurse who wasn't able to go to her work to help other people as a result of your actions.

"It will take her goodness knows how long to recover from this highly traumatic incident."

The sheriff jailed Smith for 14 months.