Man jailed for harassing and stealing from pensioner

Date published: 10 December 2010

A man has been jailed for harassing and taking money from a vulnerable 74-year-old man.

Brian Barnes (24/04/1977) of Ripon Close, Whitefield, pleaded guilty to fraud and breach of a harassment restraining order at an earlier hearing.

On 9 December 2010, Barnes was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment at Bolton Crown Court.

On 1 February 2010, Barnes was acquitted at Bury Magistrates' Court of a theft against the same man, but magistrates' imposed a restraining order on him.

He was prohibited indefinitely from communicating directly or indirectly, either by telephone, letter, fax or any other electronic device, with the man.

A few days after this court hearing, Barnes approached the man outside some shops on Rufford Drive, Bury telling him he had not been convicted of the previous charge.

Over the next two weeks Barnes began approaching the man, asking to 'borrow' more money off him.

The man later told police that Barnes was persistent and intimidating - he would visit and call him constantly until he handed over the cash.

The man's lack of money was noticed by a friend who would visit him every day. She found at times he did not have the money for bare essentials and food, so she would take him bits to keep him going.

She tried to confront Barnes about this but he would not face her.

The man's brother had also noticed the lack of food and money so would also bring him cigarettes and food.

As there were two people bringing him things without the other knowing, they assumed his problem had gone away.

Sometime later, his friend noticed the man was again short of money and when she checked his phone found a number of calls from withheld numbers.

She suspected Barnes was the person calling and went to confront him again. This resulted in a scuffle and Barnes reported it to police.

An officer spoke to Barnes who denied visiting or calling the man and he signed an agreement not to contact him or enter the road where the man lives.

The officer spoke to the man's friend and was concerned by what he was told so began to regularly visit him to check on his welfare.

On one occasion on Monday 4 October 2010, the officer was at the house when he saw Barnes knock on the door and walk into the house when the door was opened.

He saw Barnes constantly look around and ask if anyone else was in the house before taking £120 from the man.

As he left the house, the officer stopped and arrested him. The officer seized the money and this was returned.

Barnes's mobile phone was also seized and the phone records showed he had called the man nearly 600 times between February and September 2010.

After his arrest, Barnes was bailed, but he continued to revisit the man while on bail.

He believes he may have handed over around £1,500 prior to October but as it is thought he handed over £60 to £80 per week, it could be in the region of £2,400 to £3,200.

In interview, Barnes claimed he had simply borrowed the money from the man and had rarely contacted him, but when faced with the evidence he admitted he was not going to pay him back.

Police Constable Richard Garland, of the Whitefield Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "Barnes continually targeted a vulnerable 74-year-old man to obtain money for a gambling addiction.

"He would pester the ,man who felt he had no choice but to hand his money over, to the point he could not afford to feed himself.

"Barnes consistently breached his restraining order in his pursuit for money with no regard for the man's health or well-being.

"I hope today's action will leave the man with some peace of mind that he is now free from Barnes."