I took on a burglar and won!

When Cara Marie Bowers, 42, saw an intruder in her home, she knew just what she had to do

- Helen O'Brien & Anna Cook

Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary. Mine certainly was. I’d bought my own two-bed ground floor flat in Essex back  in September 1998. It was nothing special, but I was proud it was mine.

After my daughter, Lauryn, was born in July 2000, followed by Ellie, four years later, I became a single mum and it was more important to me than ever to have a secure family home. It always felt so cosy, with pictures of the girls dotted around.

But, one Monday afternoon in October 2016, everything changed. It was around 2pm and I’d been selling some of my old clothes through Facebook, and people had been popping round to pick them up. I’d made £13 cash and had left it on the worktop, ready to put away properly. with Christmas coming, every penny mattered. I’d already saved £70 for the girls’ presents – a coat for Lauryn and make-up for Ellie – and had hidden the cash in a kitchen cupboard so I wouldn’t spend it!

Strange noises

I had just one more item to sell that day – a woman had promised to buy a T-shirt for £3, but hadn’t yet arrived. with two hours to spare before I started work as a nanny, I knew I needed a rest. I’d been diagnosed with fibromyalgia four years earlier. It causes muscle and joint pain all over the body, so I knew that having a lie down was vital to keep the pain under control.

When the woman didn’t show, I texted her to say I’d leave the T-shirt in a bag on the doorstep. Then I headed off to bed. Lauryn, 16, was at college and Ellie, 12, was at school, so I knew I could have a few moments of peace and quiet. Even my dog, a staffordshire bull terrier called Ruby, was dozing on the sofa.