Bogus caller strikes three times in same day

In all three incidents last Friday a white man with an Irish accent reportedly knocked on doors and claimed he was from the council, before asking to check taps and drains in order to gain access to all three properties.

Cash was taken from all three of the elderly victim’s homes.

At a property in Fitzhubert Road at 1.30pm on Friday, the man is believed to have asked the elderly occupant to run a tap while he checked on a blocked drain. The pensioner became suspicious when he noticed a bedroom door had been opened and entered the room to find the man searching his personal belongings. The man fled the scene with a quantity of cash.

The same bogus caller is believed to have visited the address of a pensioner in Swallow Wood Court, Woodhouse, at 10.30pm on Friday, where it is claimed he employed the same tactics before leaving with some of her money.

He is also thought to have carried out a similar distraction of a vulnerable woman on City Road, Arbourthorne at 11pm on Friday, when he took money from the pensioner’s home.

Police are looking to trace the man, described as in his 40s, slim, 5ft 8ins tall, with stubble. He was wearing a fluorescent jacket and a dark hat.

Anyone with information on these incidents or may have witnessed suspicious activity or seen someone matching the man’s description, is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 523 of 18 November 2016. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.