'Utterly shameless' Wakefield woman burgled dying grandfather's home as he slept
She targeted several vulnerable people to feed her habit
A despicable drug addict burgled the homer of her own dying grandfather as he slept.
The judge at Leeds Crown Court described the actions of Faye Knowles as “utterly shameless” as she admitted a string of burglaries in which she purposely targeted vulnerable people.
The 33-year-old was previously jailed for stealing from a disabled person for whom she was working as a carer.
But the “short, sharp shock” of a that nine-month prison clearly failed to deter her, Judge Robin Mairs told the court, as she embarked on another spree earlier this year.
On March 18 she took the key for her grandfather’s home and let herself in the middle of the night.
Rifling through his belongings, she took £30 from his clothes. She then grabbed the keys to his car and went looking for for more cash, before posting the car key back through the letterbox.
The elderly man, who was receiving end-of-life treatment for cancer, slept throughout the burglary. Judge Mairs said Knowles was aware of his terminal illness at the time.
The court heard that he sadly died last week.
On April 18, Knowles arranged for two men to attend the bungalow of a man whom she was visiting and whom she knew had a developmental disorder.
She let them into the property and they were then seen loading up £600 worth of his belongings into a car, including a Playstation 5.
A week later Knowles stole £140 from the home of a woman whom she knew and had invited Knowles in. Three days later Knowles returned and confessed, and then offered to clean her house to make amends.
She then callously stole two silver watches and the woman’s wedding ring while pretending to tidy the property, prosecutor Henry Fernandez said.
Finally, on July 7, she and another male approached a property where a woman was house sitting for the owner. After being told the woman was away, Knowles barged her way in and stole an electric scooter.
Knowles, formerly of Lincoln Street, Wakefield, but now of no fixed address, appeared in court over a video link from HMP New Hall where she has been on remand for several months.
She spent much of the sentencing hearing in tears, admitting four counts of dwelling burglary, one of theft and one of attempted theft.
Mitigating, James Littlehales said it was Knowles’ addiction to Class A drugs that had being the driving force behind her offending.
He said she apologised through him for the distress she had caused to the victims.
He said she was now clean from drugs and completed several courses about addiction.
Mr LIttlehales said she is a mother to a seven-year-old child and is aware that she will continue to receive jail sentences of increasing length.
Judge Mairs told her: “You prey upon the vulnerable, including your own family.”
He jailed her for 64 months and gave her an indefinite-length restraining order to keep her away from two of her victims.