AN ILL man of 95 watched from his bed as a burglar ransacked his room and stole his £200 savings, a court was told yesterday.

Crack cocaine addict Anthony Ward, 18, rang the pensioner's entry phone outside his home in Middlesbrough, Teesside, and said he was a carer on a visit.

The frail pensioner let him in only to watch helplessly as Ward pulled out drawers and searched clothing in wardrobes before vanishing with the cash, said Robin Denney, prosecuting.

Ward, who was targeting pensioners to fund his addiction, had previously tricked his way into two elderly women's homes by asking for a glass of water, help for an injury or a pen and paper, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Greg Purcell, defending, said that Ward could not even remember the addresses of all his victims when he was in a drug-induced haze, but after months on remand he was now drug free.

Ward, of Mulgrave Road, Middlesbrough, was sent to a young offenders' institution for four years after he pleaded guilty to four house burglaries last December.

Judge Peter Bowers told him: "You don't seem to appreciate the profound effect it has upon old people.

"They were obvious targets and I am sure that everyone in the court and yourself felt some shame and horror for the man that lay in his bed while you ransacked his room to feed your drug habit.