Doorstep Crime

My mother was quite a savvy old bird but was still caught out. Some guys were doing some gardening for her and one asked to use the loo. Next thing, the loo is blocked with something foul smelling and immovable. Cue lots of chaps being terribly helpful with buckets and hose pipes, keeping my worried mother fully occupied while another one of them rifled through the drawers and handbags in her bedroom. Unfortunately, she used to collect her pension in cash every two or three months (this was quite a while ago) and it had accumulated into well over £1,000 – which they found and removed.

Horrible stories Dorset and even more frustrating was hearing the pathetic rationalisations for targetting the elderly and vulnerable. Drug users do desperate deeds and I can be compassionate with a drug addict who needs help, but not when they are on methadone and receive support, yet will still commit such crimes out of greed, because they can, and to stay friendly with their dealer 'just in case.' One woman claimed she stole from an 89 year old woman so she could buy her daughter (who was in foster care) a birthday present. She spent her daughter's birthday in police cells and then went back to prison. That's another child who has learned she has unreliable parents, and an elderly woman in fear for her life, maybe weeks or months before she comes of the end of it. Being faced with the reality of what she had done, she said she hadn't considered that anyone might be suffering as a result!

I remember a friend of mine was sorting her late mother's home ready to sell it. She found nearly £10,000 in cash in all sorts of hidey-holes - as her mother was always crying poverty she had obviously forgotten about it. Or like a lot of people will do without in order to leave money to their family. One lady on the programme I mentioned, also had a lot of family photos taken in her handbag snatch as well as a large sum of money. I agree with Anagram hopefully our generation will be more savvy. Horrible stories whenim64 preying on the elderly AND the lonely in these cases.

I have supervised many criminals who have committed distraction thefts - doorstep crimes. One young woman would start chatting to elderly ladies coming out of a shop or on the bus and then follow them and watch them go to their front doors, and because they had been chatting a few minutes previously, they wouldn't be as cautious as they would if the criminal had knocked on the door. Another woman used to visit the elderly persons' home with her daughter of certain residents (who didn't challenge this), saying they were friends to offer to read or keep elderly people company, whilst the daughter was busy pilfering. They all got hefty prison sentences.

I don't think this despicable sort of crime will die out, because as people become more aware about protecting themselves at the front door, criminals will find other ways to deceive them, and when they are desperate they resort to street robbery. The main thing is not to have precious belongings on your person or in your bag, only have small amounts of cash, and if someone tried to steal your bag or purse you won't be as worried about letting go of it if a robbery is attempted, otherwise it is the older person who will come off worse.

My parents used to keep large amounts of cash hidden in their house - they worried about being taxed on unearned income, but their understanding of the tax levels was way out and they would have earned interest if they'd banked it. When they died, we had to check every stick of furniture. Sadly, a lot of elderly people will be doing the same with all this worry about banks we're having at the moment.

Also, many elderly people want to give cash to anyone who offers to get them some shopping and will keep it handy in the house, rather than rely on the person who is shopping paying for it themselves and taking a cheque or online banking transfer. The more computer-literate the elderly become, the safer they will be from anyone trying to steal their cash, but there's still the issue of them learning to be security-savvy.

I agree, dorsetpennt - it's despicable.
I do think, though, that this sort of crime will inevitably die out because the newer generation of older people (i.e. ourselves) is much more savvy than the previous one. Of course, the criminal element will always be with us, unfortunately, probably thinking up new ways of stealing from the unwary!
I've never understood why some old folk think keeping lots of money in their home is a good idea, though...