Addict jailed for elderly thefts

A drug addict who stole hundreds of pounds from elderly people has been jailed for five years.

Colin Rocky McPhee, 25, targeted his elderly victims during a three-year spree in Middlesbrough, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He was caught by police after burgling a 90-year-old disabled man's flat in the Linthorpe area on 10 November.

McPhee, of Ridley Avenue, Acklam, was jailed on Friday after pleading guilty to burglary.

The court heard he was arrested after a police search.

His criminal record showed he had been stealing from pensioners for up to three years.

'No mercy'

In 2005 he approached the home of a 78-year-old woman, got money for garden work but did not finish it.

He did the same with other women, aged 74 and 69, and in September 2006 he stole £20 from an elderly woman's purse after offering to do gardening work for her, the court was told.

A month later he stole £320 by using the same trick of asking for a glass of water.

Judge Michael Taylor said: "The court has no mercy for those who commit these sort of offences.

"It is all too common and has to be stamped out."