A gang of travelling burglars who targeted old people in their homes were today jailed by a judge who said that they must expect to suffer for preying on the elderly.

The victims of the three men and a woman included a man of 91 and a woman who suffered from Parkinson's disease.

The men in the gang posed as Water Board officials to gain entry to their Darlington homes to steal money and cash cards.

Some of the pensioners in the town and in nearby High Coniscliffe become suspicious and the gang fled in a Mercedes Benz car driven by the woman. She was arrested when another motorist reported her erratic driving. Others in the gang were arrested later in the south of England, said Graham Gaston, prosecuting.

She claimed she had come from Dublin for a family funeral but eventually they all admitted their parts in the burglaries after investigations in the North-East and the south by DCs Grahame Chapman and Stephen Chinner of Darlington CID.

Judge Tony Briggs was told by Mr Gaston that all the elderly victims had been badly affected by their experiences.

He told the four: "Those who prey on the elderly have to be discouraged. The victims in this case were all over 70 and have been brought up in an atmosphere where a respect for the elderly was a good deal more common than it is these days.

"All of them have been extremely affected by your activities. It must be made known that those who prey on the elderly must suffer and suffer considerably."

All four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglaries between last December and January this year.

James Hanrahan, 28, of Victor Road, Harrow, Middlesex, was jailed for five years; John Hutt, 20, of Fletchers Way, Hemel Hempstead, was sentenced to four and a half years detention and Hanrahan's wife Margaret, 24, a mother of two, of Edward Street, Stockton and Thomas Wickens, 18, also of Fletchers Way, Hemel Hempstead, were both put behind bars for three years and 11 months. The judge also confiscated the dark green Mercedes car.