Two burglars crept into the home of a 90-year-old woman in the dead of night and ransacked it while she slept, a court has heard.
The terrified pensioner woke to find a stranger in her bedroom rummaging through her bedside cupboard. She pressed the panic button on her wrist to raise the alarm, and Darren Lewis and Jason Morris fled from the house.
Merthyr Crown Court heard how the pair were caught thanks to a police sniffer dog, CCTV footage, a trainer recovered from a nearby river, and local knowledge. The victim of the burglary has since passed away, and police said it is "tragic that she had to endure something as awful" in her final months.
The court heard the burglary took place in Hirwaun in the Cynon Valley in November last year. The victim woke in the early hours of the morning to find an intruder next to her bed rummaging through the drawers of the bedside cupboard. Terrified, she pressed the Lifeline button on her wrist to raise the alarm, and the man ran out after hearing it had been activated.
Police arrived minutes later, and a police dog tracked a scent on a lane behind the house. This led officers to checking CCTV in the area which captured two men making their way to and from the victim's address. The pair were identified by local officers and arrested. A footprint found in the victim's address and in mud in a lane was subsequently matched to a pair of trainers found in a nearby river which are believed to have been discarded by Morris. Clothing which matched what both men were wearing in the CCTV footage was also seized upon their arrest.
Morris admitted his role in the burglary but Lewis maintained his innocence - pointing the finger of blame solely on his co-accused - and went to trial where he was subsequently convicted.
Jason Morris, aged 33, of Bethel Place, Hirwaun, had previously pleaded guilty to burglary, and Darren Lewis, aged 42, of Heol Dyfed, Hirwaun, had previously been found guilty of burglary when they appeared in the dock for sentencing. With a discount for his guilty plea Morris was sentenced to five years in prison, and Lewis - who had no credit for a plea having been convicted - was sentenced to seven years. The defendants will serve up to half those periods in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community.
Speaking after the sentencing South Wales Police detective constable Joel Rees, who led the investigation, said: "Their actions left their innocent and vulnerable elderly victim traumatised and unable to feel safe in her own home. She has since passed away and it is tragic that she had to endure something as awful. Both men have been jailed which is where they belong for committing what was a cowardly and despicable crime."
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