Elderly People Being Targeted in Home Burglaries

A repeat offender who preyed on elderly victims has been jailed after leaving an 83-year-old woman too afraid to return to her home.

Thomas Gilheaney, 41, carried out the robbery at the woman’s property in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, after turning up uninvited and claiming he was owed money for previous roof work.

Despite already being paid £50 by the woman’s son, he demanded more cash and forced his way inside.

Once in the house, he grabbed the woman and demanded to know where her purse was, moving through the property while pressuring her for money. He told her he would leave if she handed more money.

When the victim attempted to call for help, he snatched her phone. He later found her purse, which contained cash, loose change and bank cards, before fleeing the scene with the money and her mobile.

Police later found the woman shaken, distressed and hiding behind her front door. She had suffered bruising during the incident and has since been unable to return to the home she had lived in for 50 years.

Gilheaney was identified using nearby doorbell camera footage and DNA evidence. He admitted assault and robbery and was sentenced to five and a half years in prison.

The court heard he has an extensive criminal history and has repeatedly targeted elderly victims in similar offences in the past. At the time of this attack, he had only recently been released from custody and was already on bail.

Sentencing, the judge described the crime as a “despicable” act of violence against a vulnerable elderly woman in her own home.