Police target assets of conman jailed for preying on pensioners in Stechford
Nov 23 2009 by Mark Cowan, Birmingham Mail
POLICE in Birmingham are to go after the finances of a “despicable” doorstep trickster who preyed on the trusting nature of pensioners to con his way into their homes.
Career criminal Patrick Doran, targeted two Stechford pensioners, one aged 89 and the other 90, within minutes of each other, distracting them with claims he was carrying out work for the water board while an accomplice rifled through their valuables.
But the 35-year-old was caught thanks to images from a tiny home security camera installed by one of his victims after she was burgled months earlier.
Doran, a traveller living in Northamptonshire at the time, was jailed for five-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court earlier this month after pleading guilty to burglary and attempted burglary.
Now West Midlands Police are to go after his ill-gotten gains and have frozen his bank accounts.
Det Con Richard Walker, who led the investigation, said: “What he did was the most despicable crime, preying on the elderly and vulnerable.
“Someone like him treats prison as an occupational hazard. We are going after his assets, which hits the criminals where it hurts – in the wallet.”
A similar financial inquiry has been launched into “cowardly” dad-of-four Kevin Joseph McGuire, 26, from Bolton, jailed for five years earlier this year after swiping £39,000 worth of valuables in a Midland-wide crime spree last year.
Det Con Walker, from Stechford CID, said Doran and an unidentified accomplice targeted the women in June, first targeting the home of an 89-year-old who lives on her own.
After she saw through his ruse, the smooth-talking Doran tricked his way into the home of a 90-year-old nearby.
Officers had a stroke of luck when the first victim told how she had a tiny camera fitted in her home after being targeted once before. The image was circulated among police who identified Doran.
Det Con Walker said: “He was a problem for all police forces. He committed this crime countrywide so we take some satisfaction that we have got him.” Police this week announced plans for a winter war on doorstep tricksters after a recent increase in the number of distraction-type burglaries.
