WATCH: CCTV catches crooked window cleaner rifling through widow's house

Police have released CCTV of a crooked window cleaner who burgled an elderly pensioner's flat.

An officer criticised Joshua Woodhouse, who served with the armed forces in Afghanistan, for fleecing the 'vulnerable' victim.

Woodhouse, 26, was captured searching the pensioner’s bedroom on a police camera in West Bromwich on May 17.

Detectives had set up the camera after relatives of the woman raised concerns money had disappeared from her address the previous month.

Woodhouse − who was due to clean the woman’s windows once a month − was one of just a few people who had been in the property.

WATCH Woodhouse rifling through the house:

He went into the address on May 17 to ask for some water but was seen going into the victim’s room while she went into the kitchen.

Cash was later discovered missing and as only Woodhouse and relatives of the pensioner had been in the home he was arrested by officers.

He took £1,000 on the first occasion but only got away with a £20 note left as bait by the suspicious relatives on the second.

He initially denied stealing money but as the weight of evidence built up against him he pleaded guilty to two burglaries between April 21 to 24 and May 17.

Woodhouse, of Cotterills Road, Tipton, was sentenced to two years and one month at Wolverhampton Crown Court last Wednesday.

Detective Constable Sarah Forster, of Force CID, said: “Woodhouse targeted this woman knowing she was elderly and vulnerable.

“She trusted him as a regular window cleaner; but he took advantage of this misplaced trust to deceive and steal from her.

"We have a range of tactics to catch criminals and the use of the camera on this occasion proved crucial in snaring Woodhouse.

"It spotted him searching the room and after the money was later missing he had to be the prime suspect.

“We always assess and improve our ways of securing evidence so those who commit crimes are caught and punished through the courts."