Burglar Mark Porter left a frail pensioner lying on the floor after he punched her in the stomach when she found him stealing her son's video, Oxford Crown Court heard.

The court heard that Iranian-born Rabab Abbas shouted at Porter and slapped his face, but fell to the ground when he hit her during the incident at a house in Summerfield Road, Summertown, Oxford, in March this year.

Porter, 21, of Thorplands, Northampton, denied causing actual bodily harm but admitted burglary at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

Speaking through an interpreter, Mrs Abbas said she had only lived at the house, which belonged to her son, for six months and was praying when she heard someone whistling. She went to her son's room to investigate and found Porter putting a video into a pillow case.

She said: "I pulled it from his hand, then the boy hit me on the shoulder.

"Then I slapped him on the face. He hit me in the stomach. I fell down to the ground. The boy then left the house.

"Afterwards, I felt tense. I felt the effects for four days."

Tony McGeorge, prosecuting, said Mrs Abbas suffered bruising to her neck and body. was tender.

When interviewed by police,

Porter said he did not hit Mrs Abbas, although she "clouted him around the ear". The case continues.

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