Liverpool woman jailed three years for burglary of elderly man's home

Natalie Riley, 44, posed as the victim's daughter to enter his Liverpool home and rifle through his belongings. She was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on 13 August.

Liverpool woman posed as daughter to burgle man in his late 70s

A 44-year-old Liverpool woman has been sentenced to three years in prison after posing as the daughter of an elderly man to gain entry to his home, wirralglobe.co.uk reports.

Natalie Riley, of Geneva Road, Liverpool, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, 13 August, after targeting a man in his late 70s at his Liverpool address.

On 12 July, Riley entered the man's home, falsely identifying herself as one of his daughters. A motion-activated camera inside the property captured her moving into the living room before going upstairs and searching through the victim's coat.

A relative monitoring the camera feed remotely used the device's built-in speaker to confront Riley and order her to leave. She left the property shortly afterwards. Police subsequently identified her from the footage and arrested her on suspicion of burglary.

Detective Chief Inspector Ben Wayment said: "This was a truly despicable crime on a vulnerable member of our community inside his own home. Riley had absolutely no right to be inside his house and his family were shocked to see her enter the address and go through his things."

Wayment added that the victim's family had acted quickly: "Thankfully due to the vigilance of the victim's family she was stopped and quickly ordered to leave."

On the sentencing, DCI Wayment said the offence had left a lasting impact. "To break into someone's home is a serious offence and has had a huge lasting impact on the man's family as they saw Riley manipulate her way into his home," he said. "Riley will now spend time behind bars for her actions."

Merseyside Police is currently running a summer burglary prevention campaign, encouraging residents to assess their homes through a "thief's eyes". The campaign draws on real-life burglary tactics to highlight security weaknesses and the measures people can take to reduce their risk of becoming a victim.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)