Jail for fake policeman who burgled homes of elderly

Conman Alexander Wright, 31, went into a charity shop 
and bought a dark blue top 
and trousers, smart white shirt and tie.

To complete his officer’s makeover he had a fake earpiece, a walkie-talkie radio and sported a four-inch ID badge bearing the word “Police”.

He denied seven burglaries but a jury took just 45 minutes to find him guilty after a three-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court.

Jailing him, Judge Rosalind Coe said he was nothing more than a distraction burglar who went to great lengths to convince victims he was someone in authority.

Prosecutor Ian West said Wright’s trick was to prey on elderly and vulnerable people in their own homes.

He struck three times in Chesterfield and at homes in Huddersfield, Oldham, Sheffield and Rotherham last summer.

Wright stole bank books, a passport and £400 in cash from Elsie Swan, 88, at her home in Gleadless, Sheffield, on July 7.

Three days later he struck at three homes in Chesterfield where the female victims 
were aged 76, 91 and 82 respectively.

In Huddersfield, he targeted an 87-year-old man with Alzheimer’s disease and his wife, 75, and in Oldham a 67-year-old woman.

Mrs Swan said a smart, clean shaven man with short hair in police uniform knocked on her door and said: “I’m a police officer from the station.”

He claimed two boys had been arrested who had burgled her house. She said he must be mistaken but he insisted and told her: “Please hurry up, they’re waiting for me at the station.”

The fake policeman was arrested wearing his police uniform.

Father-of-two Wright, who lived on a caravan site in the Sheffield area, has five previous convictions for burglaries and was also sentenced for three offences of false representation when he preyed on elderly homeowners offering gardening services before stealing cash.

He was jailed for five years for the burglaries, another two years for the deception offences and a year on top of that for dangerous driving. He was also banned from driving for five years.