A DRUG addict snatched the wallet of a man in his 80s after failing to rob a 90-year-old in the street.
Michael Keogh, who was identified from a CCTV recording, later contacted the police to say he was going to hand himself in – but was arrested at his home when he failed to do so.
Keogh, 36, of Coton Road, Rugby, was jailed for two years and eight months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to charges of attempted robbery and robbery.
Prosecutor William Douglas-Jones said Keogh struck up a conversation with a 90-year-old man on a bus from Rugby town centre on the morning on August 15.
When they got to the pensioner’s stop, Keogh got off as well before standing in front of him and demanding £5.
The 90-year-old said he had no money on him, at which Keogh repeated his demand, grabbed one of his victim’s hands, went through his pockets and took his wallet.
Unable to resist, the old man shouted for help while Keogh went through the wallet – but there was no cash in it.
He handed the wallet back, apologising as he did so, and bizarrely asked the shaken pensioner if he was going to invite him in for a cup of tea.
At that point other people intervened and took the pensioner to a nearby pub as Keogh returned to the town centre.
An 85-year-old man who had been visiting his wife in a residential care home in the town centre was in the public toilet in North Street when he felt a tap on his arm.
When Keogh then took his wallet from his back pocket, the old man grabbed his arm, but Keogh released his grip and took £240 from the wallet before discarding it nearby.
After the incident was reported, an ambulance was called for the pensioner, and he was checked over but did not need to go to hospital.
Keogh was identified from a CCTV camera, but in fact contacted the police himself and told them: “I know what I’ve done and will admit everything. The drugs have got to me. I’ll hand myself in on Thursday evening.”
He did not do so, and after he was then arrested at his home, he admitted both offences, and said he had done it because of his drug addiction.
Discussing the category into which the offences fell, Judge Stephen Eyre QC observed: “It was minimal force, but these are elderly, vulnerable victims, so not much force was needed.”
Mr Douglas-Jones added that Keogh had many previous convictions for theft or related matters, and is serving a 24-week sentence imposed by magistrates for a theft he had committed two days earlier.
Simon Hunka, defending, said that about three years ago Keogh was the victim of ‘a significant assault’ which put him in a coma for several days and has left him using crutches.
That spurred him to make changes in his life, and he steered clear of drugs for a while – until December last year when he came across an old friend and also came into money as compensation for his injuries.
“He spent something like £8-9,000 in a three-week period, in the main on drugs.”
Of the offences, committed around the 17th anniversary of Keogh finding his brother hanging, Mr Hunka added: “To target people of that age is something he is very much not proud of, but he was desperate.”
Jailing Keogh, Judge Eyre told him: “These are the most serious offences you have committed. You targeted two elderly gentlemen, one aged 90 and one in his 80s.
“I accept you didn’t use much force; you didn’t need to. It is a serious aggravating feature that you targeted elderly victims because of their vulnerability.”
