Thief stole £10 by tipping OAP out wheelchair
Woman, 39, posed as home carer
A THIEF who shoved her disabled 74-year-old victim out of his wheelchair to rob him of £10 has been jailed for more than three years.
Lisa Carmichael targeted the vulnerable OAP by posing as a carer – then left him lying helpless on the ground while she rummaged round his home.
The 39-year-old gathered a tenner in loose change before walking past him and leaving him unable to get up off the floor.
Graham Beer was eventually able to activate his community alarm and he was found on the ground when police officers arrived on the scene.
Dundee Sheriff Court was told it was the second time she had targeted an elderly man in the same street in less than a fortnight.
Sheriff Paul Brown jailed her for 40 months and added a further 12 months supervised release “in order to protect the public from the risk of further serious harm.”
The sheriff told drug addict Carmichael: “These are serious offences against vulnerable victims, against a background of an offending history, so there is no alternative to custody.”
Carmichael, 39, from Dundee, admitted trying to rob 80-year-old Robert Varney by taking his wallet from his trouser pocket last December.
She admitted returning to Abbotsford Street on January 10 and attacking Graham by entering his property and knocking him from his wheelchair before robbing him.
Fiscal depute Gavin Burton said Graham had known the accused for a few weeks and had paid her previously to change a lightbulb for him. She was seen pulling up outside the property in a taxi.
Moments later, Graham heard a knock at the door and Carmichael told him: “It’s your carer.”
Mr Burton said: “He opened the door and realised it was the accused, rather than his carer. He instructed her to leave and tried to shut the door.
“She barged past, knocking him off his wheelchair, on to the floor.
“She took approximately £10 in change from the property before returning to the taxi she arrived in. The complainer was stuck on the floor.
“He activated the community alarm and informed care staff what had occurred. Police arrived and found him still stuck on the floor.”
Carmichael was later traced at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. She told officers: “I’m sorry for what I’ve done.”