Yahoo Finance 'Violent' burglars who targeted vulnerable elderly people in their own homes jailed
A pair of ‘violent’ burglars who targeted pensioners in their homes in Brent, London have been jailed for a total of 25 years.
Troy Benjamin and John Wall were both arrested on 9 October, 2018 following an investigation into a high number of burglaries targeting elderly victims.
Officers from the Met’s North West CID carried out a complex investigation involving in-depth telephone analysis, leading to the pair’s arrest
Benjamin, 39, of Mowbray Road, Brent was found guilty of six separate distraction burglaries and one count of GBH following a trial at Harrow Crown Court.
On Wednesday, Benjamin was handed a 19 year jail sentence.
Accomplice Wall, 44, of Halliwick Road, Haringey pleaded guilty to the same six burglaries and dangerous driving offences.
Wall was jailed for 6 years 10 months and disqualified from driving for 70 months.
The court heard the first burglary was reported on September 20 2018 on Howard Road, Brent.
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Benjamin and Wall approached the house, telling the elderly male victim there had been a leak next door and asking to check there was no flooding in his property.
While one of the suspects pretended to check the kitchen taps, the second suspect searched upstairs, taking a quantity of cash before both left the scene.
During another offence, on September 26 2018, an elderly woman went to put out her bins on St Albans Road, Brent.
As she did so, she was approached by Benjamin and Wall who said they were there to check her boiler.
One of the men then went with the victim to the kitchen and took the cover off the boiler while the second went into the living room and bedroom and stole cash.
Then, on On October 5 2018, police were called after an elderly woman was woken at her home in Oaklands Road, Brent by the sight of Benjamin and Wall in her bedroom, searching through the wardrobe.
She told them that she had no money and after shouting for help, a neighbour came to her aid and confronted Benjamin, attempting to detain him.
He then stabbed the man’s left arm with an unknown object, leaving him with life changing injuries, before fleeing the scene.
Detective Constable Parminder Ahluwalia said: ‘This was a despicable series of burglaries with both men cowardly targeting elderly residents before tricking their way into properties to steal items, as well as using violence against a neighbour who tried to help his friend.
‘We are pleased that the sentences they have been given reflect their callous actions and we hope the victims can now begin to leave this bad episode in their lives behind them knowing these two men are locked up in prison for the foreseeable future.’
