A MAN was caught breaking into a house in Oxford when he grabbed a sleeping woman's leg as he attempted to climb through the window.

George Courtney-Jacobs, of Southwell Road in Bicester, appeared in Oxford Crown Court yesterday having admitted one charge of burglary.

The court heard how the 21-year-old had been drinking before the early hours of May 8, 2018, when he attempted to clamber through an open window of a home in Marsh Lane in Headington.

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On the other side of the window was the unsuspecting victim, who was asleep, and woke to the pressure of a hand on her leg.

She quickly checked outside the window and says she saw Courtney-Jacobs stood on a flat roof along from her window.

She says she asked what he was doing and he replied 'he was trying to get his cigarette' that he said he had chucked, and that he stopped and stared and made no attempt to get away.

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In sentencing, Judge Ian Pringle considered Courtney-Jacobs' previous history of mental health issues.

He said: "You put your hand through a window...and intended to steal something.

"What you got hold of was the leg of [the victim] who was awoken by you. That must have a been massively terrifying experience for her."

He was given a two year community order and mental health treatment requirement, plus 15 days rehabilitation requirements.