by Tanya O’Rourke T&A Reporter A woman who burgled the home of an 87-year-old Alzheimer’s sufferer has been sentenced for what a judge branded a “mean, nasty” offence.

The Alzheimer’s Society also said it “deplored” the crime which it said must have been particularly distressing for the victim.

Anne Marie Whiteley, 31, knocked on a window at the home of the man, who lived alone in Ladbroke Grove, Holme Wood, on November 19 last year, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Joanna Butler-Savage said he let her in, believing her to be a carer.

The defendant took a TV valued at £80 and £15 in cash, the court was told. She sold the TV for £20 and used the money to buy drugs.

Sentencing Whiteley to an intensive community order with supervision for 12 months, a drug rehabilitation requirement for six months and a four month curfew, Recorder Mark Gargan said: “The value involved isn’t very much, a TV worth just under £80, but it is a mean, nasty offence, perpetrated against an elderly man who wasn’t in a position to look after himself.”

Anne-Marie Hutton, for Whiteley, of Hill Lands, Wyke, said the crime had been committed on impulse after she had been drinking. In interview she said she was appalled and disgusted by her behaviour, Miss Hutton said.

Speaking after the case, Paul Smithson, services support manager for the Alzheimer’s Society in Bradford, said: “Alzheimer’s Society deplores the burglary which must have been a particularly distressing experience for a gentleman of 87 who has Alzheimer’s disease.

“Our work with people living with dementia shows that living at home in a familiar place for as long as possible is beneficial to their condition, but vulnerable people must feel safe and supported in their community.

“We would encourage people who know that they have someone nearby who has dementia to be a good neighbour.”

Detective Constable Dean Patterson said: “Whiteley intentionally took advantage of a vulnerable member of the community in a desperate attempt to fund a habit.”

“Ultimately, those who commit such offences will be caught.”