A THIEF who has shown "no remorse" after targeting vulnerably elderly people in their homes has been jailed for six years.

Thomas Coker, 26, of HM Prison Bullingdon, in Oxford, was sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court on Thursday (September 6).

He pleaded guilty to a burglary in Tidworth on June 13, thefts from a motor vehicle in Salisbury on June 17 and 18, and offences of fraud by false representation in Salisbury, Wilton and Shaftesbury.

Coker was found guilty for a burglary in Salisbury on June 18 following a trial.

Local Crime Investigator Julie Whittick, from Wiltshire South Community Policing Team, welcomed the prison sentence.

She said: “Coker is a career criminal who has shown no remorse for his offending.

“He worked as a gardener and used this job to identify vulnerable victims, so he could go back and burgle their homes.

“In one of the offences he pushed over an elderly man who suffers from dementia before stealing a purse, and in another he targeted the house when he knew the elderly victim was in hospital having a heart operation.

“The south of the county is a safer place now he is behind bars for a substantial period of time.”