A BRIERLEY Hill man has been jailed after tricking his way into the home of an elderly, vulnerable family friend he had known since he was a boy so he could steal £60 to buy drugs.

Daniel Ashman got into the 73-year-old woman’s Lower Gornal home on the pretext of warning her he had seen a “suspicious male” in the area before taking the cash from her purse, Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Judge Michael Challinor told the 34-year-old he had “abused his relationship” with the victim adding: “The harm you have done is considerable.

“This is the kind of behaviour that ruins people’s lives and they often become prisoners in their own homes.

"The message must go out that those addicted to hard drugs must avoid targeting the elderly.”

The Judge warned offenders would go straight to prison and concluded: “Long after your release from this sentence she will still be looking around wondering if someone is going to attack her in her own home.”

Cathlyn Orchard, prosecuting, said Ashman had lived at the time near the victim and after she returned home from picking up her pension he got into her house.

She left him alone to go into the kitchen and after he left she discovered the money was missing from her purse - an offence that left her extremely upset at having been the victim of someone she trusted, Miss Orchard said.

Ashman, of High Street, Brierley Hill, admitted theft and he was thoroughly ashamed of his actions - Stephen Hamblett, defending, told the court.

He said Ashman started using Class A drugs after the death of his father and things “spiralled out of control"; he was struggling with his addiction and the only thing on his mind was getting his next fix.

Mr Hamblett said Ashman was now taking determined steps to resolve his drug problem and he was full of remorse for the way he had affected the life of his victim.

He said: “Now things are starting to turn around for him.

“This was not a sophisticated piece of deception. What he did was effectively a ruse.”

The Judge said it was clear Ashman had targeted the pensioner - adding: "You had known her since you were a little boy. You knew she lived alone, that she was a pensioner and that there would be money in the house."