Prolific thief jailed for credit card spree

A prolific and persistent thief who stole hundreds of pounds from the bank account of a cancer-stricken army veteran was today behind bars.

Scott Simkiss, aged 28, went on a three-week spree with the pensioner's credit card, which went missing after his home was burgled in December, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Miss Rhiannon Jones said that when the elderly man, a former army soldier suffering with lung cancer, discovered the raid on his home he could "hardly breathe" and thought he may be suffering another heart attack. The money stolen by Simkiss, she added, was a fund he and his wife had saved for their retirement.

Simkiss, of Croxdene Avenue, Dudley Fields, Bloxwich, was given a 16-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to a string of offences – including stealing £600 from his victim's bank account – committed during a three-week period at the start of the year.

The father-to-be also admitted to charges of handling the stolen card, fraud using the card at a Game store, shoplifting £100 of cheese from Iceland and stealing a sat nav.

He asked for 13 other offences, which including several attempted uses of the pensioner's credit card, to be taken into account.

Recorder Mr Stephen Evans said he acknowledged the "positive steps" Simkiss had made to improving his life, including entering a drugs programme, getting a temporary job, and supporting his pregnant partner. But, he added, there was a need to protect future potential victims.

"I'm sure you were ashamed when you learned the gentleman who lost his card was an elderly man suffering ill health," he said.

"You are not a stupid man. You recognise that what you did was wrong and it is right you be punished.

"I can see no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence."

Miss Jones told the court Simkiss had 43 previous convictions for theft or attempted theft from a vehicle, 35 for burglary, and two for handling stolen goods.