A man was spotted prowling on a senior's patio as she watched the television, a court heard.

Stanley Davis, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Magistrates' Court to prowling and escaping custody.

Auralee Cassidy, for the Department of Public Prosecutions, said: "At 8.15 p.m. on September 20, the complainant was sitting in her living room looking at her television with her patio window open and one of the curtains drawn.

She looked outside and saw the defendant lurking outside and peering into the living room.

"The complainant shouted at him to 'get off the patio' and he then turned and walked slowly towards the patio of an adjacent property."

The 65-year-old woman contacted Police, who apprehended Davis at 8.20 p.m. as he ran from the condominium off Rockville Lane towards Serpentine Road.

He was taken to Hamilton Police Station but then managed to escape custody by pushing one of the officers over and running off towards Front Street.

When officers caught up with him he admitted both offences in a Police interview.

The court heard Davis, 42, was a cocaine addict whose previous convictions include burglary. Defence lawyer Larry Scott yesterday called for a social inquiry report.

Davis told the court he had successfully completed the Camp Spirit programme between September 2007 and February 2008.

"Since February 8 up until about a month and a half ago I was doing very well, but I had a relapse," he said.

"I was hanging around the wrong places and people, and as a result this is where I find myself right now."

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner jailed Davis for a year, with three years' probation conditional on complying with drug treatment court programmes.