Jail for conman who swindled woman of 93

John Bell, of Ninfield Road, Bexhill, posed as a painter when he called at the vulnerable pensioner's Pett home in October last year.

During several visits, he convinced her to give him cheques and cash worth up to 900 at a time.

On Tuesday, Hove Crown Court heard that 29-year-old Bell had asked for the money in exchange for painting the outside of the woman's house.

A chartered surveyor employed by the police later examined the work and valued it at around 25.

Detective inspector Mark Ling told the Observer: "Targetting elderly people and taking what may be their life savings away from them is a despicable crime.

"Hopefully this will send out a clear message to anyone who considers doing such a thing in this area in the future.

"We will be able to use this as a test case against such people and hopefully more of them will get sent to prison."

Bell had pleaded guilty to three charges of dishonestly obtaining money by deception at an earlier hearing.

He also asked for eight similar counts to be taken into consideration.

The total amount he took from the woman in the 11 instalments she paid him was 4,810.

Bell's scam was only unearthed when the pensioner's carer noticed she had been withdrawing very large sums of money from her bank account.

A member of staff at the Natwest bank in Hastings also smelled a rat when the elderly woman entered the branch and asked for a 12th cheque for 700.

The cashier ran outside the bank and saw Bell escaping in a van. She was able to note the vehicle's registration number which led police directly to him.

Det insp Ling paid tribute to both carer and cashier this week, adding: "These cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute, but thanks to the vigilance and diligence off all involved, and some really excellent work from DC Ian Smith from Rother CID, we got a fantastic result this time."