Couple in their 70s set up spy camera to trap thief

Joyce and Raymond Wilson, who are both in their seventies, set up the covert camera system in their house after money they had left out started to go missing on a regular basis.

The couple deliberately left a £10 note and £7 in loose change on the mantelpiece in their living room, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

They then made sure they left their home at Avisford Road, Sheffield, secure when they went out early in the morning but within half an hour their odd job man, 45-year-old John Hydes had stolen the money.

His theft was captured on the couple’s CCTV camera and he was arrested by police, said prosecutor Susan Evans.

Father-of-six Hydes, of no fixed address, who appeared in the court from custody, admitted burglary.

Miss Evans said Mrs Wilson, 71, and her husband, 76, were “very upset” about what Hydes had done.

In a statement read to the court, Mrs Wilson said: “We were so good to him, buying him clothes and giving him food parcels and we can’t understand why he has turned on us like this. I would just like to know why?”

Hydes, who has 20 previous convictions and has served prison terms in the past, had been “on the straight and narrow” until this incident, said his barrister Tim Savage.

He accepted there had been a serious breach of trust and was “totally ashamed” of what he had done, pleading guilty to avoid the need for the couple to come to court.

Mr Savage said he had befriended the couple and worked hard for them for several years doing their gardening and running errands like shopping.

But he needed cash to feed his cocaine habit and he had less income following a change in his benefits.

“There was a real friendship between him and the Wilsons and he feels he has let them down,” said Mr Savage.

The barrister said his client was trying to get off drugs and there was no residual animosity between himself and the Wilsons who had allowed him to come and go into their house as and when he pleased.

Judge Alan Goldsack said Hydes had committed a “gross breach of trust” which aggravated the offence.

He added: “The couple suspected that small monies had been missing over a time so they put their own camera in place to try and catch the culprit.

“What they did not know was that you had been struggling with a drugs problem for some considerable time which explains this offence when put in combination with a change in your benefits.”

Hydes was given a 52-week jail term suspended for two years. He will be supervised by probation for a year and has to undertake a drug rehabilitation course.

Judge Goldsack said he was also putting him on trust to repay the money he had stolen from the couple.