Blind East Kilbride OAP robbed by con worker

Apr 16 2008 By Paul Thomson, East Kilbride News

A BLIND pensioner was robbed in her own home on Monday afternoon after falling victim to a bogus workman.

The 85-year-old, who lives in Falkland Drive in West Mains, had her handbag stolen at around 2pm and the robber withdrew £300 from the woman’s bank account at a cashpoint in Blantyre just 15 minutes later.

The victim’s daughter told the News the whole family is shocked and angered at the theft.

She said: “A man came to the door and told my mother he had been looking at the drains and that the guttering wasn’t right.

“He told her he had been before to attend to her guttering and she should come through to the back of the house and see it.

“Then she turned round and it was then he made off with her handbag.

“There wasn’t a lot of ready money in her bag, but he did steal all her bank cards, lots of bits of paper with information on them and other bits and bobs.

“And within 15 minutes of leaving the house he had travelled down to Blantyre and withdrew £300 from my mum’s bank account.”

The woman’s daughter said the only reason she wanted this issue to be highlighted was to make other elderly people throughout the area aware of the threat which is posed by bogus workmen and ‘cold’ callers.

She added: “I just want people who may be vulnerable to this sort of crime to look out for someone offering to carry out work for them.

“It could happen to anyone in my mum’s situation.”

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: “Police were called to a home in Falkland Drive between 1.45pm and 2pm on Monday, April 14.

“A bogus caller offering to do some work gained entry to an elderly female’s home before making off with a quantity of cash and other items.”

Anyone who may have witnessed a male with a Scottish accent acting suspiciously, or residents in the area who were offered services from workmen at their door, are urged to contact East Kilbride CID on 564016 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where calls are free and also in complete confidence.