BARRIE

A 98-year-old woman told a judge of the horror and degradation she felt as she lie in her bed pretending to sleep while two teens poured maple syrup all over her and ransacked her home in the middle of the night.

Sitting in a wheelchair at the front of the court Tuesday, wearing a mauve shawl, matching mauve slippers, pink lipstick and gold earrings, Jean Knox, the traumatized grey-haired lady, listened as her son read aloud her victim impact statement.

The teens, aged 16 and 17, who can not be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, where charged with break and enter, assault and mischief after they broke into her home through a window after a boozy night out Dec. 29, 2016.

Court heard how they trashed the elderly woman’s tidy home, smashing eggs, syrup, cooking oil, ketchup and peanut butter on the walls, floors and ceilings of every room.

Knox told the court how she saw two hooded figures with lights making their way in the darkness toward her. Fearing for her life, she pretended she was asleep under the covers in her bed.

“They began pouring something all over me. At first I thought it was blood,” she said.

As she lay terrified, her eyes closed, they continued to pour syrup on her slippers and bedding.

“I have been devastated by these two young men,” she said. “I am a 98-year-old polio survivor and almost completely deaf. Yet I was still able to enjoy living in my home.”

A home that she and her husband built together and raised their family in the ’50s.

“Other elderly people living in their homes must be concerned and frightened about this,” she said. “What happened to me could happen to anybody.”

Knox had to leave her home for six weeks while cleaners and painters repaired the damage and has since invested in a security system.

In court one of the teens, who stands at six-feet with shoulder-length hair, pleaded guilty and stood to face the elderly woman.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking that night,” he said weeping. “I was struggling a lot with life … If there is anything I can do to help, I will.”

As she listened, the elderly lady showed no emotion.

“This was an emotional heartfelt apology … he is not just paying lip service,” said his lawyer, Angela McLeod, who said the teen has suffered through childhood abuse.

The Crown is expected to give closing arguments Friday.

The second teen is still before the courts.