Patrick Joseph Connor, 24, of Grizedale Drive, Ince, was sentenced to 20 months in prison after a court heard he was part of a gang which distracted 79-year-old Barbara Owen, after calling at her home and offering to do gardening work.

Steven Gray, prosecuting at Lincoln Crown Court, said: "She was engaged in conversation by one of the men. While that was taking place the two others entered the house by the back door.
"Inside they carried out an untidy search. A safe was taken containing cash and documents including a will and Mrs Owen's husband's death certificate."

The court heard police were called after two golfers playing at the Skegness North Shore club spotted the gang fleeing with the safe to a nearby car.
Officers saw the getaway car 25 miles away, heading towards Grimsby, and stopped it but the driver reversed into the police car and drove off at high speed.

The vehicle was chased before being abandoned in a farmyard. Dogs pursued Connor and Martin Rooney, 22, into woods where they were caught.
Another man, Patrick Connor, 31, made it to the main road and began hitching, but was picked up by an off-duty PC who, knowing of the raid, took him to Skegness police station and handed him over to colleagues.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mrs Owen said she now felt "nervous and jumpy", and had moved to be nearer her son in Cambridge. All three men admitted burglary on April 25, this year.

Patrick Connor, 31, of Culmington Road, Stirchley, Telford, and Martin Rooney, 22, of Wellington Road, Bilston, Wolverhampton, were each jailed for 18 months.

Judge John Machin said: "This was a mean and contemptible burglary. You and your accomplices reduced to great unhappiness an entirely innocent victim."

Judge Machin awarded the golfers £200 each for their role in bringing the gang to justice, adding: "It is thanks to their providing police with the registration number of the car that these three crooks were arrested."