A THIEVING duo who scammed elderly people out of cash and credit cards have been jailed.

Martin Lawrence, aged 27, of no fixed address, and Chantelle Doherty, aged 21, of Clifton Road, Prestwich, targeted vulnerable pensioners in their own home.

The spree began in late 2013 when Lawrence, and an unknown man, repeatedly visited a house in Salford to persuade a man aged in his 90s to hand over a large amount of money, claiming they would do paving work for him.

The victim had repeatedly told them he was not interested in the work, and the paving was not carried out in any case.

Lawrence came back again, distracted the man, went upstairs and rooted through his drawers before stealing his wallet.

That December, Lawrence went to another Salford home and stole £130 from the wallet of a 92-year-old man while pretending to be a charity collector.

Also in the same month, Lawrence told a 54-year-old man he was a police officer so he could gain access to his Salford home and steal his wallet containing a debit card.

It was at this point, said police, that Doherty teamed up with Lawrence.

The pair used the stolen card to order £70 of food and drinks from a pub in Bolton Road, Pendlebury, before leaving with some of the alcohol when the card was declined.

They then went to the home of the 92-year-old man and stole whisky, a mobile phone and a credit card from him.

At Manchester Crown Court last Thursday, Lawrence was jailed for five years and four months after admitting burglary, fraud, robbery and attempted theft.

Doherty was jailed for two years after admitting burglary and fraud.

After the hearing, PC Michelle Ingham said: "It is difficult to convey the devastating impact these cruel acts have had on these two victims.

"Lawrence repeatedly targeted two vulnerable elderly men in the sanctity of their own homes, a place where they should feel safe and where they and their families had worked hard to ensure these two men could still enjoy a high level of independence in their old age.

"As a direct result of what happened here, one of these men has had to move out of his family home, where until this point he had lived happily, and into residential care, which is simply heart-wrenching for both him and his family."

PC Ingham added: "I hope that this sentencing acts as a warning to others who may think they can get away with targeting more vulnerable members in our society.

"This sort of heinous crime is one that we take extremely seriously and we will do everything in our power to trace those responsible and put them behind bars for their actions."