Woman thief gagged blind 91-year-old with a tea towel to steal cash after tricking her way into pensioner's home as boyfriend stood guard

A female robber who tricked her way into a blind 91-year-old pensioner's home before tying her up and gagging her with a tea towel has been jailed for 10 years.
Sandra Mowbray, 43, conned her way into the house of her frail victim by pretending to be a council worker who had come to read her meter.
She attacked the grandmother of four, before binding her hands together with a belt and stuffing a tea-towel in her mouth to stop her from calling for help, a court heard.

Jailed: Mowbray, left, assaulted the 91-year-old pensioner while her boyfriend Payne, right, stood guard outside

Unemployed Mowbray then dragged the vulnerable pension upstairs and ordered her to lie on her bed at her home in Oldbury, West Midlands, while her boyfriend Lee Payne, 39, stood guard outside.
The thief rifled through the blind woman's personal belongings, before escaping with £130, credit cards and a necklace, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
When Mowbray confessed to her sister and brother-in-law , the couple were so horrified they turned her into the police.

She was jailed for 10 years on Friday after pleading guilty to robbery and theft.
Her partner Payne was sentenced to two-and-a-half years after admitting theft and assisting an offender.
Sentencing the pair, Judge John Edwards told them: 'Your crime was truly despicable.'
Today, the elderly victim vowed to get over her terrifying ordeal at the hands of the pair.
Speaking from her home, the resilient pensioner said: 'I'm not going to let this beat me.

'I don't answer the door now unless I know who it is. Where I come from, people respected each other and treated each other well. It just seems that is not the case these days.'
The woman, who needed five stitches after the attack, said she was shocked by what unfolded at her home on June 15 last year.
'It was just so unexpected,' she said. 'With women, you just don't expect another woman to turn on you like that. It's a shock and she was a lot taller and a lot stronger than me. But I'm doing well now and the police and my family have been marvellous with me.'
The victim's family also welcomed the sentences - branding the attack 'cold, callous and calculated'.
The court heard Mowbray knew the victim was frail, registered blind and vulnerable. She first approached her home at some point between June 1 and 15, claiming to be a council worker needing to read the meter.
She managed to get inside by asking to use the toilet and stole £13, while Payne acted as a lookout outside the house.
Mowbray then returned to the house at around 7.30pm on June 15, telling the victim she believed she had left her keys inside. Despite being suspicious, the pensioner let her into her home.

Your crime was truly despicable

Judge John Edwards
 

However, after checking for her keys, Mowbray demanded money, and became angry when the pensioner told her she didn't have any.

Howard Searle, prosecuting, said: 'She started swinging her, twisting her about the room by the arms.'
The pensioner fell and hit her head against the kitchen door - causing blood seep from the wound.

Mowbray grabbed a tea towel and wrapped it around the elderly woman's head, before binding her hands with a belt.
She then went upstairs to search the rooms, leaving the victim lying on the floor.
Mr Searle added: 'She began to wriggle free, and managed to sit up. She started to shuffle and manoeuvre her way towards the door.'
But Mowbray spotted the pensioner's attempts to break free and grabbed her - dragging her up the stairs and ordering her to lie on the bed.
After making off with her belongings, Mowbray then told the woman to stay on the bed and count to 100, or 'there would be trouble'.
When police arrested the pair, from Oldbury, the necklace was found in their home and £70 of the money was found on Payne. The rest had been spent on buying booze.
David Bratt, defending Mowbray, told the court that she had gone to the house to steal and never intended to use force, while Mr Michael Anning, defending Payne, said he never entered the house and was only involved because he wanted money to buy alcohol.

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