A thief who preyed on elderly people by tricking his way into their homes to steal valuables has been jailed for four years.

Shaun Hogg pretended to be selling cigarettes and alcohol when they opened the door but let himself in uninvited before making off with property to fund his heroin addiction.

Teesside Crown Court heard his victims were traumatised by the ordeal. One 60-year-old woman suffered epileptic fits and had to be taken to hospital and a 79-year-old Middlesbrough man told police he is too scared to leave his home because of Hogg's actions.

On October 19 last year he tricked his way into the home of an elderly Middlesbrough man by claiming he was selling alcohol and cigarettes but instead stole his wallet containing £260.

Two days later, said Sarah Mallett, prosecuting, he gained entry into the home of a 79-year-old disabled man in Easterside, Middlesbrough and stole £1,400 from an upstairs bedroom which the victim had been saving to buy Christmas presents for his grandchildren.

On November 11 he took £20 from a 61-year-old disabled Middlesbrough man pretending he would come back with cigarettes but did not return.

The day after Hogg struck again, targeting a elderly man who he had stolen from before and took a wallet containing £305.

Two days later Hogg called at the home of an elderly man in Grangetown who gave him £100 for cigarettes which he said he was going to get from a friend's house.

The victim insisted on going with Hogg in his car but he drove off and left the man in the street to make his own way home and without his money or cigarettes.

Mrs Mallett said the next incident took place on November 23 at an elderly woman's home after she let him in thinking he was her grandson.

"He walked straight past her into the house. When she realised it was not her grandson she described feeling petrified," she said. Hogg stole two rings valued at £300.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to two thefts, two counts of obtaining property by deception and two burglaries. He also admitted a further 32 offences of a similar nature.

Katherine Dunn, defending, said Hogg , of Starbeck Way, Middlesbrough, was a heroin addict who had been devastated by the death of his father.