A PAIR of burglars who preyed upon a 83-year-old woman have been jailed for their “wicked” crime.

The duo stole, cash, bank cards and irreplaceable photographs from the Brighouse home of the woman whose husband had just been admitted to a nursing home.

Bradford Crown Court heard the elderly woman had been left frightened and distressed as a result of the burglary.

She was now afraid to leave her home, which she had lived in for 53 years, spent most of her time hiding from view and had trouble sleeping.

The court was told by Becky Jane, prosecuting, that the victim was alone when she spotted Georgina Thornly in her porch at 4.30pm on Friday, March 20.

She asked “what are you doing in my house” before Thornly left.

She later discovered that family photographs and more than £200 of cash together with bank cards were missing from her purse.

She went to a neighbour’s house and called police who arrived to find her very upset.

Officers obtained CCTV footage from another neighbour showing Thornly’s co-accused Robert Kaye waiting outside the woman’s property while she went inside.

The court heard that police arrested the pair in Halifax later.

Thornly ran off but was detained and was found with a wallet with cash which she said she withdrawn from her account.

The total cash she was carrying totalled £180 while the amount stolen in the burglary was £210.

Kaye was found to have wraps of crack cocaine in his possession.

In a statement to police Thornly said she had walked past the elderly woman’s address and saw her in slippers and talked to her. She said she had forgotten that she had entered the property, the door of which was ajar.

Kaye said he had been outside the property because he was waiting for a taxi.

He said he had bumped into Thornly and was not acting as a lookout for her.

He said the crack cocaine found on him was for personal use.

Conor Quinn, for Thornly, said she was suffering from mental disorders and addiction. This was her first dwelling burglary and she had shown remorse and was ashamed at the harm she had caused.

He said the offence was committed on impulse with no mask, gloves or tools used.

Emma Downing, for Kaye, said he had just acting as a lookout and he had no previous convictions for burglary or theft from a dwelling.

Judge Jonathan Rose jailed both Thornly, 43, of Lower Edge Road, Rastrick, and Kaye, 32, of West Parade, Halifax, to 27 months in prison with an extra two months for Kaye for the drug offence.

He said: “This was an intrusion into a private home.

“You knew full well this was a lady of advancing years.

“This was wicked, targetting a vulnerable person.

“It was particularly bad that the lady was in her house and your presence disturbed her so a confrontation took place.

“Only a prison sentence will do.”