A HEROIN addict who stole from pensioners in sheltered accommodation has been jailed for two years.

Burnley Crown Court heard that Patsy Toomey, 35, rifled through an elderly man's pockets "like he wasn't there," after walking into his home.

She was also said to have tricked her way past another victim's intercom system by claiming she was the woman's carer. The defendant then kissed the woman before taking her handbag and contents totalling £220.

Recorder C Alldiss told Toomey: "The elderly are entitled to be protected from people such as you."

Toomey, of Parliament Street, Burnley, admitted three burglary charges and had been committed for sentence by Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale Magistrates.

The court was told the first complainant, who lived at Gerald Court, Burnley, was shocked and upset after the defendant went through his pockets and took property worth £121.

Toomey next struck at the flat of a man who was asleep in his lounge at Gatefield Court, Burnley, taking a CD player. He shouted at her and she ran off.

Martin Hackett, defending, said Toomey accepted tricking her way into the woman's home but denied she did it by claiming to be a carer.

Toomey had been addicted to heroin for 10 years but did not have a criminal record of any great seriousness.