A ‘THIRD-STRIKE’ burglar who posed as a gardener to steal cash from a vulnerable woman with dementia has been jailed.

Andrew Bailey, 39, was caught by neighbours and a family member who had installed CCTV in a bid to protect their elderly relative.

Prosecutor Paul Nicholson told Bradford Crown Court that the victim in the case, aged in her 80s, lived alone at an address in Keighley.

One of her carers had reported that after arriving at the house on one occasion, she had seen a “scruffy looking man” inside.

A family member had also found a note left by someone saying they were doing some gardening work at the address, prompting them to install CCTV cameras.

On October 5, Mr Nicholson said that one of the woman’s neighbours had become concerned after seeing a man in the garden. On the same date, the woman’s son-in-law had viewed the CCTV footage of the house and seen a man “rummaging in drawers.”

Police were called and after Bailey was detained, the woman’s son-in-law identified him as the man he had seen on the security cameras.

Bailey told officers he had not been at the house to steal anything, but had been carrying out gardening work.

However he was found to have no work tools on him, and £45 was recovered from his person.

Mr Nicholson said Bailey had targeted his victim, who he described as being particularly vulnerable.

He said: “It is abundantly clear to anyone who speaks to her that she has dementia.”

The court heard that Bailey, of Bingley Road, Keighley, had a criminal record dating back to 1996, with 18 convictions for 26 offences, including two previous dwelling house burglaries.

Shufqat Khan, mitigating, said Bailey’s previous conviction for burglary was back in 2003, suggesting his client was not involved in a “regular pattern of offending.”

He said that a personal tragedy in Bailey’s life had led to him returning to crime to feed a class A drug habit.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Hall QC, said by pleading guilty to burglary, Bailey had at least saved any further trauma for his victim.

He said: “She was a clear and obvious victim, ripe for dishonesty. You couldn’t resist it.”

Judge Durham Hall said due to Bailey’s efforts to turn his life around since his last conviction, he was able to impose a minimum three-year sentence, minus credit for his plea.

Jailing him for 876 days, he said: “Don’t come back her again or you will receive top-end sentencing, you understand that.”