A PREGNANT woman has confessed to burgling the home of a couple aged 95 and 86.

Rachel Ryan has been told to expect a prison sentence after breaking into the home and using a stolen bank card to take nearly £11,200.

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Ryan, 34, had ‘preyed’ on the couple over a number of months, Recorder Guy Mathieson said.

She had been due to stand trial at Burnley Crown Court accused of robbing the elderly Foulridge couple she had befriended.

But after detectives liaised with the elderly victims, prosecutors accepted guilty pleas to two burglaries at their home in July and September.

Remanding her in custody for sentence, Recorder Guy Mathieson said the defendant was facing a lengthy sentence.

Ryan carried out the offences after getting to know Alice Nutter and her partner William Green, police said.

She took a bank card belonging to Miss Nutter and used it, between May and June last year, to steal £11,179.

The first burglary took place on July 20, where Ryan is said to have stolen £1,300 from an upstairs room at their property. In the second raid, on September 12, she is alleged to have stolen £70.

Ryan, formerly of Robinson Street, Foulridge, but who has also lived recently at Bankfield Mount, Braithwaite, had also denied two offences of robbery, which Mr Recorder Mathieson allowed to lie on the file.

Prosecutor Kimberley Obrusik said that police had spoken with the 95-year-old victim, in the presence of his family, at a nursing home and he was concerned about giving evidence in court.

An approach had also been made to the 86-year-old female victim and she had expressed similar sentiments.

Mr Recorder Mathieson said he agreed to the prosecution’s approach to the case after hearing about the victims’ feelings.

He added: “I will adjourn sentence for reports, which will give the court more information about your background. But make no mistake, there will almost inevitably be a custodial sentence, and of some length.”

Requesting pre-sentence reports, Imran Khan, defending, said his client had 10 convictions for 16 offences.

Mr Recorder Mathieson said the defendant’s convictions included one offence where she had stolen a friend’s benefits book, after being allowed into her home.

Police had questioned a 26-year-old man in relation to the same offences but he was later released without charge.