BURGLAR JAILED; Five years for man who targeted OAPs.

A BURGLAR who targeted pensioners was jailed for five years by a judge who said such crimes must be stamped out.

Callous Colin Rocky Mc Phee, 25, had been stealing from the elderly for three years when he burgled a 90-year-old disabled man who had his wheelchair at the side of his bed.

The man, who lived in a warden-controlled flat in Middleborough, heard his door buzzer at 12.30am. He thought it was a neighbour checking he was all right.

Moments later a man appeared at the foot of his bed and seemed to be rifling through his belongings.

He shouted for him to go, but the man ignored him.

The pensioner struggled out of his bed into his wheelchair. It was only then that the intruder walked out of the bedroom, said prosecutor Ian West.

He contacted the warden and the police were called. Other nearby residents in the Green Lane area of Linthorpe had heard the rattling of their door handles and, when the man was challenged, he said: "Oh, I'm looking for gardening work".

Mr. West said: "He told police later that he was out mooching, by which he meant looking for properties to steal from."

McPhee, of Ridley Avenue, Acklam, Middleborough, was arrested after a police search. His criminal record showed he had been stealing from pensioners since 2005, Teesside Crown Court was told.

In 2005 he approached the home of a 78-year-old woman, got money for garden work and never finished it.

He did the same with other women aged 74 and 69, and in September 2006 he stole pounds 20 from a pensioner's purse after offering to do gardening work for her.

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

A month before he targeted the 90-year-old, he was given a conditional discharge for another theft, added Mr. West.

Nigel Soppitt, defending, said the facts of the offences were alarming.

He said McPhee had been wandering around after taking a cocktail of drugs and he had been knocking on doors.

Mr Soppitt said: "His wife has said that she wants nothing more to do with him until he clears himself of drugs.

"He has already had three drugs courses and he has certificates to prove it.

"He has a family and he wants to be a good parent."

Judge Michael Taylor told McPhee he had appeared before the courts on a number of occasions for offences targeting elderly people.

The judge said yesterday: "The court has no mercy for those who commit these sort of offences.

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

McPhee admitted the November 10 burglary with three more burglaries of two houses and a garage taken into consideration.