Jailed: Drunk man stole pensioner's bank card at Telford flat
A man who walked drunk into a pensioner's flat in Telford and asked for money before taking her bank card has been jailed.
Alexander Newton, 26, went to the home of the 85-year-old victim in Dawley last month.
Yesterday Newton was jailed for 16 months after admitting a charge of burglary.
The court heard that Newton knew the victim because his family had lived in a neighbouring flat when he was a teenager.
Judge Peter Barrie said Newton knew that the victim was in her 80s and vulnerable and that would give him money if he confronted her.
"You left her distressed and tearful by the way you behaved and had stopped her phoning the police," he said.
Mr Nicholas Tatlow, prosecuting, said that on March 17, Newton went into the flat and was clearly drunk and was stumbling about and was asking for "money or drugs".
He said that Mrs Holmes recognised the defendant and asked him to leave, but he refused.
"When she tried to call the police he got hold of her wrist and threw the phone on the floor," he said.
The court heard that Newton had left an almost empty bottle of brandy in the porch area and must have taken the TSB bank card - which was in a shopping trolley - as he left the flat. There was no evidence that Newton knew the victim's pin number.
Mrs Debra White, for Newton, said her client had no clear recollection of the events, but had apologised, was deeply sorry for what had happened and that he was now getting help for his alcohol abuse.
