IT was a marvel of modern forensic science that put heinous criminal Jimmy Evans behind bars, trapped by the DNA on a cigarette he left behind at the home of one of a series of old folk he viciously robbed.

But, thank goodness, the skill and determination of the police in catching him has been backed up by proper punishment. Evans was jailed for eight years. He deserves every day of the sentence, if only for the four dreadful attacks he carried out in one week alone in the Knuzden area of Blackburn.

In two cases, he tricked his way into the homes of women in their seventies and stole cash. In another, he dragged an 84-year-old woman around her house before stealing money, leaving her severely cut, bruised and distressed. Three days later, posing as a water company official, he threatened a 76-year-old woman with a knife.

Such evil deserves no mercy, above all, when none was given to the vulnerable old folk this coward targeted. But sentences like this are also needed as frightening messages to evil scum like Evans who, so often, leave their victims so distressed and afraid they are virtually killed by the experience.

In recent months, pensioners have been preyed upon in a spate of similar crimes across our region. Our old folk deserve maximum protection and sentences like the one Evans got should be automatic whenever the victims are the lonely, weak and frail.