A BURGLAR who targeted the home of an elderly woman was caught after a police chase.
Paul Raywood, 42, broke into the 91-year-old woman's home.
Police believe he could have used a device to put through her letterbox to hook her door key, which was on a ledge nearby.
Raywood then made off with the woman's handbag and an envelope her daughter had given her which was addressed "Mum" and contained more than £500 in cash.
Police officers on patrol spotted him rifling through a handbag in a bus shelter in the early hours of the morning.
When they stopped to question him he fled, leaving some of his victim's identity documents strewn on the path.
The police conducted a search and, using CCTV, found him hiding in a stairwell by a church.
He had tried to hide some of the stolen money in there but the police were able to recover it.
Raywood had also stolen a letter from a neighbouring property.
A dog walker discovered her handbag abandoned on a path.
The victims did not realise the offences had occurred until the police arrived the next day.
Raywell pleaded guilty at Hull Crown Court to the burglary and theft from the property at Alexandra Court in Bridlington.
Raywood, of Ferndale Terrace, Bridlington, claimed he was under the influence of amphetamines at the time.
Judge Simon Jack jailed him for two years and 146 days.
He told Raywood: "It was a serious burglary of a 91-year-old lady.
"Elderly people often feel extremely vulnerable to offences of this kind and find them very distressing indeed.
"This was a nighttime burglary, which also makes it very serious.
"If you are released and commit further burglaries of dwellings then the court is likely to take a very different view and you would be looking at a substantial lengthy sentence."
Raywood started committing burglaries when he was 16.
