A SCHEMING Halesowen grandmother fleeced a pensioner out of over £35,000 after giving him the impression she was a solicitor.

Julia Brennan - a woman with 60 previous offences on her criminal record - also played a part in a £17,300 fraud on the same 71-year-old victim with her younger brother Timothy Hale.

Hale, a builder from Farm Road, Rowley Regis, had been jailed for 30 months at an earlier hearing by Recorder John Edwards who said it was clear he and Brennan had regarded the pensioner as a "soft touch."

He said the pair had embarked on a scheme to ruthlessly exploit their wealthy victim after inveigling their way into his life.

As he jailed 58-year-old Brennan, of Cockshed Lane, for 27 months the Recorder told her: "You have a bad record for dishonesty."

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Hale, aged 56, targeted the pensioner while working as a project manager on the construction of a £30,000 garage at his home.

The victim was involved in a long standing dispute having failed to get back £19,500 he had paid out for a Mercedes car that turned out to be stolen. He had been awarded compensation against the seller but after a ten year battle he had not received a penny.

Hale learned of the situation and he brought in Brennan, their victim told a jury during their trial he was given the clear impression she was a solicitor who could help resolve his problem.

She was given the £17,300 fee in two instalments while Hale found a legitimate lawyer who took on the pensioner's case for a fee of £3,925.

Hale pocketed the difference with Brennan being given a further £3,000 she said was needed to get the man who sold the Mercedes evicted from his home but he had already moved out of the property.

At the same time Brennan systematically took over £35,000 in cash from the pensioner over a six month period suggesting it was a loan that would be paid back from damages she expected to get after being attacked by a dog.

The two defendants had both denied the £17,300 fraud but they were found guilty by the jury after they retired to consider the evidence at the end of their trial.

Brennan was further convicted by the panel in relation to the "loan" offence.

When Hale was sent to prison by the Recorder Brennan was remanded for pre-sentence and psychiatric reports and she returned to the court for the case against her to be finalised.