An electrician targeted the elderly and vulnerable charging them for work for which they had already paid.

Denis Wright, 50, today starts a 2 and a half year jail sentence after admitting three counts of theft and three of attempted theft in the Clacton and Jaywick areas, breaking into a Colchester doctor's surgery and two thefts in the same town.

Wright, of no fixed address, got a job as an electrical contractor with P and R Coleman, in Oxford Road Clacton, in January before being sacked a month later.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Wright was taken on to carry out electrical jobs in the Clacton and Holland on Sea areas.

Kate Davey, prosecuting, told how the firm had built up an excellent reputation in the town and how its electrical contractors had no dealings with cash. Instead they carried out the work and the customer was later billed.

Miss Davey said an 86-year-old woman had a new heater installled and was invoiced for £336 by the firm which she paid.

About two days later, Wright called at her door claiming a mistake had been made and she owed £20. When she refused to pay, he said he would accept £15.

When she decided to contact P and R Coleman to find out what was going on, Wright snatched the telephone out of her hand telling her she wouldn't want to see him lose his job.

Wright's second victim was an 88-year-old woman who had been a Coleman customer for more than 20 years. In February she paid a bill of £16 for a small electrical job, only to be visited by Wright later claiming he hadn't charged enough and demanding £20 more.

Miss Davey said: "She gave him the money because he said he would lose his job."

Another woman, aged 79, paid the firm £289 in person at their offices. Wright went to her home asking for £25, which she paid. He then went back again demanding an extra £15, saying he had made a further mistake, but she refused to pay him and said she was going to call the firm.

On March 12 after he had been sacked Wright visited an 83-year-old woman claiming he had used an extra part and that it cost £20. He stayed in her home for 40 minutes until she gave him £21 to get him to leave.

In separate incidents in August, Wright broke into the Bluebell doctors' surgery in Colchester, to get a prescription, using a chisel to get into the building and terrifying a cleaner. He also stole petrol from a filling station in Colchester, and three bottles of wine from Sainsbury's, in Colchester town centre.

Catherine Bradshaw, mitigating, said: "He feels greatly ashamed of what he has done. He knows the effect it would have had on his elderly victims. Whilst unpleasant, there was no forced entry or other aggravating features.

Published Tuesday October 29, 2002

Brought to you by the Evening Gazette