Pensioner 'loses faith in human beings' after being targeted by distraction burglars

Burnley Crown Court heard how Paul Mckenzie Norwood and Christopher James Welch went to the home of the 87-year-old woman in Rutland Street, Nelson, at around 2pm on June 5 posing as gardeners and asking for work.

Prosecuting, Stephen Parker said CCTV footage from a neighbouring house showed Norwood and Welch get out a white van before going to the pensioner’s front door.

After an initial conversation the men looked around the garden, before going back to the house and having a further conversation.

Mr Parker said: “They walk away from the property, loitered for a short time before going back to the house. At that stage there is a conversation about work being done.

“If she was going to give them work she wanted their details. She went back into the house to get a pen. They go into the house with her permission. One of them says ‘It’s okay we’ve got it’. The victim then goes to a side door and sees them exiting the garden and get back into the van.”

Mr Parker said Norwood had stolen £80 from the victim’s purse, but Welch was equally as culpable as the case was being prosecuted on the basis it was a joint enterprise. The victim said the money had been withdrawn to pay a gas and electricity bill.

In her victim personal statement the woman said that after the burglary she was given medication for an illness which caused her to hallucinate. But the hallucinations she was having were of burglars in her house. She said: “I am scared when someone comes to the door. I have lost my trust in human beings after this incident. I don’t really go out anymore. I am scared when I go to the door.”

The court heard that Norwood, 31, of Napier Street, Nelson, was also charged with being the owner of a dog which was dangerously out of control in a separate incident.

That was in relation to an incident on the morning of August 30 when a nine-year-old boy was left with ‘horrific’ arm injuries after being savaged by a labrador-mastiff cross.

Mr Parker said: “At around 10.30am on August 30 the victim’s father was at a relative’s address when he received a phone call from his daughter to say his son had been bitten. He went round to his relatives address where his son was. He said he could see a cloth over his forearm which was covered in blood. He removed the cloth and started to panic because he could see his son’s muscle tissue where the bite was.”

The court heard how Norwood had a life-time ban from keeping any animals and had signed ownership of the dog, named Max, over to a friend he was living with. And when his friend had left the house to go to the shops technically Norwood was in charge of the dog, the court heard.

Mr Parker said Norwood accidentally left the front door of the house open when the boy had come to visit him and the dog had escaped and bit the boy on the arm. He was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital, where he remained for two days, and had been left with permanent scars on his forearm.

The dog has since been destroyed.

Norwood and Welch, 49, of St Philips Street, Nelson, both pleaded guilty to burglary. Norwood also admitted to being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control.

Defending Norwood, Philip Holden said his client had shown remorse remorse for both offences, especially the burglary.

Mr Holden said: “He has expressed his sense of shame having committed this offence. These are not two defendants who, unusually for this sort of offence, habitually commit burglaries.”

Defending Welch, Mark Stuart said his client was reduced to tears when looking back at the CCTV of the burglary.

Recorder Mukhtar Hussain QC jailed Norwood for 40 months and Welch for two years. Recorder Hussain said: “The victim describes herself being very scared, even now, to go to the front door. She didn’t sleep for days after the incident. Often it is overlooked the effect of burglaries on the householder. It leaves householders who are burgled with a sense of insecurity and fear for months to come, particularly when it is someone of this victim’s age.”