A callous drug addict tricked his way into a vulnerable 87-year-old widow’s bungalow and suddenly grabbed her purse after heartlessly pretending that he was there to do her a good turn.
Serial criminal Stephen White won the frail pensioner’s trust by telling her that a man that she knew had sent him round to see her so that he could hand over a garden gnome that might be of interest to her grandchildren.
Among the sentimental items in the purse that was snatched during the “extremely mean” robbery was a treasured £10 note that her late husband had with him on the day that he died. There was also a “guardian angel” keepsake and the loss of these precious mementoes had “ruined” her life, Hull Crown Court heard.
White, 36, of Gatwick Garth, Bransholme, Hull, admitted an offence of robbery on June 21. Ellen Boyes, prosecuting, said that the elderly woman was watching TV at her bungalow in Bransholme, where she lived alone, when there was a knock on the door. She was at first confused but she shouted: “Just a minute” and went to the door, using a walker.
She saw a man outside – White – and he waved to her. He told her: “I have come from Paddy. He wondered if you’d like this for your grandkids.” She knew someone of that name. White was standing next to a garden ornament.
She said “Thank you” and White replied: “Where do you want it?” The pensioner told him to bring it into the house. He brought it inside and put it down. The widow joked: “You have not nicked it from someone’s garden?”
White replied: “Oh, no.” He asked the woman for £5 for the garden ornament, which she did not think was unreasonable, and she reached into her handbag for her purse.
“The defendant grabbed hold of her purse and grabbed her by her jumper and pulled her to the floor,” said Miss Boyes. The woman landed on her knees and her right hand. White ran away.
The purse contained bank cards, £60 cash in three £20 notes, 50p in change, a driving licence, a “guardian angel” of sentimental value and a treasured £10 note that belonged to her late husband. He had it with him on the day that he died. “She had kept it ever since he died,” said Miss Boyes.
White was identified and he was arrested the same day. “There was clearly some planning and he had taken the garden gnome with him,” said Miss Boyes.
The elderly woman later said: “I feel like a fool. I am very upset with what I have lost. The incident has shaken me up. At my age, I should not be held to the ground.
“The incident is still affecting me all these months past the line. He has ruined my life. I cry a lot and wonder if anything is worth doing and feel as though I am a burden on everyone. I have completely lost my confidence following the robbery.”
White had convictions for 93 previous offences, including robbery in 2002, when he was aged 14, and in 2006, when he was 18. He had been sent to a young offenders’ institution for three years for the second of those robberies. His previous offences also included assault causing actual bodily harm.
Hannah Turner, mitigating, said that White knew the man that he had mentioned to the elderly woman because he would sometimes take the person’s dog for a walk. He would know that the elderly woman also knew the man.
The victim’s purse was later found in some rubbish. “He has shown significant remorse for his actions,” said Miss Turner. “He says that the woman has lived to 87 years of age and doesn’t deserve for it to be blighted by people like him.
“He has been out of trouble since 2019. He has been blighted by drug addiction all his life.
Judge Mark Bury said that White stole “irreplaceable items” of sentimental value in the robbery and the woman felt that her life had been ruined. It was a “horrible state” for her to be left in and it was a “tragedy” for her to feel as she did at her time of life.
“You acknowledge that this was extremely mean, as it is,” said Judge Bury. “You needed money for drugs.”
White, who was already in custody on remand, was jailed for five years and eight months.