Crooks target the vulnerable

Here are two different crimes with one thing in common – the pond life responsible deliberately targeted elderly victims.

Kieren Bekir, 28, selected properties to burgle, and then accomplice Bethany King, 34, posed as a social worker and conned her way inside to steal bank cards and cash.

Their victims were in their sixties, eighties and nineties.

Bekir, of no fixed abode, was last week jailed for four years and eight months at Bournemouth crown court. King, from Street in Somerset, got three years and 10 months.

In a separate case, evil carer Sarah Jones milked £80,000 from the savings of 92-year-old Fred Deacon.

After he fell ill, Jones discharged him from hospital without notifying her bosses and moved him 60 miles to Maltby, South Yorks, to throw social workers off the scent. She told his new neighbours that she was his niece.

The 44-year-old crook, also known as Sara Stone, was last week jailed for three years at Sheffield crown court.

Research by Action on Elder Abuse has revealed that more than a third of people assume that crimes like this which target older people are classed as an aggravated offence, similar to hate crimes – but they are not.

The charity is calling for a change in the law to make crimes against older people treated as seriously as offences where the victim is targeted for their race, religion, sexual orientation or a disability.

The vast majority of the public agree – the same UK-wide survey found that nearly 96% of respondents want tougher penalties for crimes against older people.