Thief who targeted elderly loses appeal
Distraction burglar must see out five-year sentence
A BURGLAR who has been targeting elderly people for 16 years will remain behind bars after he lost an appeal bid.
Derek Howe, 47, stole purses from a 93-year-old woman who lives alone, and couples in their 90s and 80s, in one day last June.
The lowlife struck in Rowlands Gill and Winlaton and walked around his elderly victims’ homes without them knowing.
Howe has a string of convictions for similar burglaries dating back to 2001, however, his solicitor told the Court of Appeal that the jury should never have been told about his past.
On Friday, Lord Justice Simon upheld Howe’s convictions, condemning him to serve the five-year jail term he received at Newcastle Crown Court in January.
“There was compelling evidence that he was present in the vicinity of each burglary at the time of the burglary,” said the judge.
“It was circumstantial evidence, but it was strong circumstantial evidence.”
The court heard Howe, of Brunton Grove, Fawdon, Newcastle, has convictions from 2001, 2006 and 2010 for similar offences.
On the afternoon of June 21 last year, he struck twice in Rowlands Gill within minutes of each other.
In one case, he knocked on a 93-year-old woman’s door and walked past her into her house, while a 91-year-old was first aware of him when he walked out of her bedroom.
Howe did not take anything during those burglaries, but stole a purse, cash and bank cards within a couple of hours at a property in Winlaton.
A 92-year-old man woke to find Howe in his home. He asked him for a Yellow Pages, then walked out the back door.
Lawyers for Howe argued his convictions were “unsafe” because evidence of his past record was wrongly put before the jury.
Identification evidence was also unsatisfactory and both that and his “bad character” had been used to bolster a weak prosecution case, the court was told.
But in a 90-minute hearing, Lord Justice Simon, Sir Wyn Williams and Judge Mark Brown rejected the complaints and the convictions were upheld.
After the initial case at Newcastle Crown Court earlier this year, Supt David Felton said: “Howe is the lowest of the low and the worst kind of burglar there is.”