Ellen “Nell” Sidebottom was more angry than afraid when she discovered the intruder in her home about 3am on Thursday, June 2.
“I woke. I put my radio on. I only had it on for a minute and I looked out of my bedroom door and I thought the light coming from out of here (the living area) aren’t what they normally are and then I looked into the passage and this light flashed and I knew it was a torch,” she said.
“So I yelled out, ‘who are you? What are you doing?’ and then I hopped out of bed.
“By that time the light was coming into the passageway so I started shouting and screaming to get out of my house and I ran around and the gentlemen that was here ran down here and out the door.
“I wasn’t upset. My son said I was very brave, but I said I wasn’t brave, I was angry.
“Really angry and I spoke angry.”
Mrs Sidebottom went to a weekly social event with friends who encouraged her to report the incident to police.
“I didn’t tell them yesterday morning because I had a social afternoon that I badly wanted to go to,” she said.
“Every week I go to that. The ladies there were suggesting I should go to the police, but I said but then I wouldn’t have been able to go with them and it was precious.
“So I didn’t ring the police until late (Thursday) afternoon.”
Mrs Sidebottom, who has lived in the Numurkah-Shepparton area all her life, survived diphtheria at age seven, cancer in her 20s, the death of both her parents around the same time, lived through the Great Depression and World War II and remembers Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.
“She’s (the Queen) only a few months older than me, so we grew up together, more or less,” she said with a laugh.
Now, the mother-of-two, grandmother-of-five, great-grandmother of 12 and great-great-grandmother of seven is determined not to make a fuss over her latest challenge.
“I’m embarrassed about it all, really,” she said.
“Yes, I did (go back to sleep) after I did that little browse around (the house). I put my electric blanket on, but I did leave the light on.
“I felt quite relaxed. I wasn’t upset or anything.
“It could have been a lot worse, I know.”
Shepparton police say the suspect was about 178cm tall, of medium build and was wearing dark clothing.
They are especially interested in hearing from anyone who may have security camera footage in the Poplar Ave, Blair Crt, Lagana Dve and Donmaria Crt areas in Shepparton.
Police urged anyone with information about the crime to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at https://report.crimestoppersvic.com.au/summary
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