Bogus police gang target blind woman

A 90-year-old blind woman was one of four pensioners to fall victim to distraction burglars in the Black Country in just 48 hours, detectives revealed today.

Thieves posed as bogus police officers and Water Board officials to steal money from the vulnerable victims.

A gang targeted the woman, who was with her 89-year-old brother-in-law, who suffers from dementia.

Detectives, who described the raid as "sickening", said the woman challenged the intruders at her home, off the A41 Bilston Road in Eastfield.

They claimed to be police officers and two of the men spoke to the elderly pair while a third searched the house and made off with a large quantity of cash.

Detectives today said the woman, who is registered blind, was shaken but unhurt following the break-in, which happened at around 5.45pm on Monday.

Det Chf Insp Derek Quinn, of Wolverhampton police, said: "This is a particularly sickening incident where callous thieves have forced their way into an elderly woman's home under the guise of being police officers, leaving the occupants shaken and upset."

In Walsall, pensioners in Rushall and Bloxwich had £200 and £100 stolen.

Three men appeared at the Rushall home at 10.55am on Monday and escaped in a black vehicle.

In Bloxwich, a thief distracted an 85-year-old woman at 3.20pm on Monday while another stole cash.

While in Oldbury, a bogus builder bluffed his way into his victim's home allowing two accomplices to walk inside and take a large quantity of cash after the raid at around 3.15pm on Tuesday.