Woman's life savings stolen on 89th birthday

Wayne Greene and another man tricked her into thinking she needed gardening done after calling at her home, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

As one of them took the vulnerable woman – who is not being named for her own protection – into the back garden to discuss the proposal on December 3 last year, the other slipped into her Oldbury bungalow.

During a short search he found a tin box containing the cash in a drawer in her bedroom and grabbed it along with her will and birth certificate.

Greene, aged 33, and his accomplice – who has not yet been traced – escaped with their haul of thousands of pounds from the address that the victim shares with the ill brother she cares for.

But the thieves were seen carrying the tin from the property by a neighbour who was driving past and suspected they were up to no good.

The neighbour, Andrew Watson, called in to see her, realised she had almost certainly fallen victim to a distraction burglary and alerted the police before she had even identified what was missing.

Greene was arrested the next day by members of the West Midlands Police acquisitive crime team based at West Bromwich whose local knowledge made him an obvious suspect.

He was later identified as the culprit by both Mr Watson and the victim.

The defendant was on bail after a bungled raid on the Hot Shots snooker club in Crosswells Road, Oldbury, during which he was caught red handed stealing a safe containing £10,000, revealed Mr David Swinnerton, prosecuting.

Greene smashed a hole in the wall to gain access but made so much noise that police were alerted and arrested him at the scene. The unopened safe was found nearby in undergrowth.

Greene, from Hurst Road, Smethwick, admitted that offence. He was convicted of the distraction burglary by a jury, who took just 18 minutes to reach their verdict after a trial.

Judge Nicholas Webb commented: "The loss to the lady must be incalculable on an emotional level.

"This was as serious a burglary as the court can imagine."

Friends said the victim had not let the crime crush her and remained in 'high spirits.'

The judge ordered that Mr Watson be paid £250 out of public funds in recognition of his efforts to ensure the crook was caught.

Detective Con Cheryl Jones, who was in charge of the case, said afterwards: "This was a horrible crime.

"Greene did not get into the address when nobody was at home. This was person to person. He knew the lady was vulnerable and played on that."