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The
notice below was sent to us from the police by Sian Hickman with a request
to include it on the site to increase awareness of this kind of
offence. It refers to two men from Wokingham. |
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Distraction
burglars jailed for a total of 11 years
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TWO
distraction burglars who preyed on the elderly and the vulnerable across
Thames Valley have today been jailed for a total of 11 years after being
arrested red-handed by police after stealing a pensioner’s handbag.
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Darren Willmot, 28, and Craig Walden, 32, admitted
a total of five distraction burglaries – all of which happened last year
– at earlier court appearances and appeared at Reading Crown Court today
for sentencing.
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Each were sentenced to a total of five and a half
years behind bars for their crimes.
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Willmot, of Knights Inn, Wokingham, admitted the
following four offences:
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21 August last year, a 70-year-old woman received a visit from two men at
her home in St James Close, Ruscombe. She was sat in her lounge when she
saw two men pull up outside in a white vehicle and walk towards her door.
One of them knocked on the front door and offered to clean her driveway
for her. She refused and later discovered her £50 handbag, which
contained £20 cash and a diary, had been taken from a chair in the
kitchen.
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Through
a written statement to the court, the pensioner said she felt “angry
towards the people responsible” for stealing her belongings and said she
had suffered greatly as a result of the burglary. She was forced to get
new locks put on her doors and windows and locks her home up even just to
go into the garden for a few minutes.
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27 August last year, a 63-year-old Gerrards Cross woman – who is
registered disabled following an horrific accident which left her unable
to walk without the aid of sticks – had her purse, jewellery and
silverware stolen. She received a knock on her door offering her landscape
gardening services. She refused and later discovered her purse containing
£5, a gold chain worth £60 and a silver angel plate worth £35 had been
stolen.
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Again, in a written statement to the court, the
victim said: “my home has been violated and my prized possessions
stolen. I am now a reluctant recluse and I am shocked so much by what has
happened that I am frightened to leave my doors and windows open. I cry
all the time and feel like a prisoner in my own home.”
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attempted distraction burglary at the home of an 80-year-old woman in
Barkham Ride, Finchampstead. The woman was at home and received a call
from a friend – off duty police Chief Inspector Geoff Smith – urging
her to lock her door. She did so and then heard banging at the door which
lasted a few minutes. She saw two men stood outside leave the area in a
white vehicle. Chief Inspector Smith noted the registration plate, which
greatly aided the investigation and led to the subsequent arrest of
Willmot.
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burglary in Dovedale Close, Caversham, on 16 September last year. A
71-year-old woman left her front door open while she put her washing out
to dry in a communal area at the front of her home. She saw two men, one
of whom approached her and began chatting, asking for directions. The
woman returned to her home some minutes later to discover her handbag had
been stolen.
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Unbeknown
to Willmot and Walden – who also admitted this offence – they were
being watched by plain-clothed police officers.
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Both
were arrested and taken into custody where they were charged with
conspiracy to burgle, before being remanded in custody. The pensioner was
given her property back.
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Earlier
this year, the men pleaded guilty to individual offences of distraction
burglary. Willmot admitted four and Walden admitted two – the incident
in Caversham and a second in Steven Firs, Mortimer on 13 August last year
in which a 60-year-old woman received a visit from a man offering
landscape gardening. She refused and closed the front door, only to
discover her handbag, containing £40, had been stolen.
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The
court heard how Willmot turned to crime after sinking back into a heroin
addiction. He had weaned himself off the drug for a year but fell back
into the spiral when he accepted a joint of heroin offered to him by a
friend during a Friday after-work drink at a pub.
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He
has since attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings while on remand awaiting
sentencing and says he is clean of the drug.
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Walden
also admitted that he tested positive for cannabis and heroin during his
first few days in prison following his arrest. He expressed deep remorse
for what he had done.
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On
sentencing, Judge McIntyre said: “You must understand, standing there
listening to the prosecution, that what you did has plainly caused
permanent upset and insecurity to elderly people in the later years of
their lives.”
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Det
Con Simon Osamoh, who investigated the case, said: “I am pleased with
the result and I hope it serves as some kind of justice for the victims. I
am happy for them that the men have received a substantial sentence from
the court.
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“Distraction
burglaries do happen in this area and those people who commit them are the
lowest of the low and they deserve to be behind bars. “
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Sian
Hickman
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Media
and communications manager
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01189
536354
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