Bedbound pensioner unable to move or speak watches terrified as burglar raids home

An 87-year-old woman who is bedbound and recovering from a stroke was left terrified after helplessly watching a burglar raid her home in the middle of the night.

The pensioner who is unable to move or speak after having a stroke and is reliant on care workers, found herself unable to call for help when a stranger entered her home in Torquay.

The burglar woke the woman up after breaking into her sheltered accommodation at 3am on Thursday 20 May.

Burglar Dean Lennox was caught on camera stealing the widow’s jewellery as she watched on helplessly in bed.

Footage of the burglary shows Lennox searching the victim’s bedroom using his mobile phone as a torch. The elderly woman is seen staring at him but unable to react.

The motion-activated cameras were installed in the elderly woman’s flat by her loved-ones. Lennox at one point notices the camera and turns it to the side. He then tries to remove the batteries and connections to other recording devices in the flat.

The burglar stole £90 in cash and three gold rings given to the woman by her late husband.

Lennox even took a wallet and bus pass belonging her late husband, which she had kept for sentimental reasons.

Lennox was arrested by police within hours after selling his haul to a local jewellers and giving them his name and address in the process.

Police officers have been able to recover all of the widow’s stolen items.

Lennox admitted a charge of burglary and was sentenced to three years and four months in prison at Exeter Crown Court this week.

The victim broke down in tears when police arrived.

Detective Inspector Jennifer Rose, head of the department at Devon and Cornwall Police, said: “We want this incident and the police’s response to send a clear message to those who choose to target vulnerable people within our society.

“We will go to great lengths to catch and convict those who commit these crimes.

“In this case, within nine hours of the offence being committed, police had the suspect in custody and had recovered the stolen jewellery.

"This was a multi-faceted approach by several departments and we are pleased that we could recover the stolen items, but also provide the family with some peace of mind that the suspect in this case has faced justice.”