A ‘DESPICABLE’ burglar who preyed on elderly and disabled residents has been jailed for eight years.

Dean Bennett tricked his way into the homes of vulnerable people, including 14 homes in Dorset, and helped himself to £7,290.76 in cash.

Bennett, 28, of no fixed abode, targeted the homes of Portland and Weymouth pensioners during a cross-country seven-month crime spree in which he burgled 69 homes.

A judge heard how he took £1,140 in cash and two bottles of brandy from an 82-year-old woman living in Haylands, Portland on March 7 and convinced her to drive him to Weymouth. Bennett then disappeared.

Dorchester Crown Court was told how the previous month Bennett targeted an 85-year-old woman living in Broadcroft Gardens on Portland.

Bennett asked the pensioner if she would change money for him and stole £150 from her bedroom, an extra £8 in loose change and a bank card.

A Dorset Police detective branded Bennett’s crimes ‘despicable’. Detective Inspector Marcus Hester said: “This result is particularly rewarding for all the elderly and vulnerable victims that this despicable burglar has targeted.

“These heartless offenders bring misery to our elderly and most vulnerable residents by stealing from them in their own homes – where they should feel safest.”

A Dorset Police-led operation involving nine forces led to the arrest of Bennett on March 21.

Prosecutor Simon Jones told the court how Bennett deceived residents to trick his way into their homes.

He pocketed £1,900 and bank cards belonging to a 90-year-old Middlesbrough woman with a Zimmer frame by pretending to be selling raffle tickets at the door and pushed past her into her home.

Bennett followed a Stirchley woman suffering from Alzheimer’s disease into her home and took £300.

He took £90 from a 23-year-old Coleford woman with special needs after asking her to make him a cup of tea. In February, Bennett told an 84-year-old Bourne-mouth woman that he was a workman and took £40 from her after she made him a cup of tea, Mr Jones said.

The serial burglar duped a 91-year-old Poole man the same month by pretending to be a neighbour who was moving to Bristol and had come to say his goodbyes. He asked the man if he could change a £20 note and took £120 from him.

Bennett was found guilty of 20 counts of burglary with a further 49 taken into consideration.

The court heard that Bennett had four previous convictions for burglary and was sentenced to five years in prison in April 2006.

He committed the 69 distraction burglaries after he was released on parole in July 2008.

Sentencing Bennett, Judge Robin Belben said: “The heartbreak you caused your victims cannot be overstated.

“I’ve read the victim statements and they will stick in my mind for a long time. All the victims were in their eighties or nineties or were particularly vulnerable.

“I cannot forget the traumatic effect you had.”