A DOOR-TO-DOOR salesman who acted deaf and dumb to fleece an elderly widow has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Victim Ruby Humble, 75, was in her garden in Cookley when conman Darren Collins targeted her.

When he refused to leave after trying to get her to buy a household item, she gave in and handed him £4 inside her home.

But he indicated the amount was not enough and grabbed a cash bag containing £80 when she went to get him more money, prosecutor Guy Spollon told Worcester Crown Court.

Recorder Gareth Evans QC said that many people would describe 24-year-old Collins as "a loathsome creature" for his mean way of preying on the vulnerable.

The last sentence Collins had received was for a similar offence in Derby when he had deceived a 90-year-old on a zimmer frame by also pretending to be deaf and dumb. He had stolen £200 from the old woman's handbag.

Collins, a father-of-four, of Sherborne Road, Asterley, Nottingham, was also ordered to serve 225 outstanding days of his previous sentence. And the recorder confiscated £250 of his cash to go towards prosecution costs.

The defendant pleaded guilty to burglary and the prosecution accepted his not guilty plea to robbery.

Mrs Humble had been recently widowed when she was approached by Collins last May. The trickster was arrested by police within hours.

Patrick Thomas, defending, said Collins was "out of his mind" on amphetamine on the day of the raid.

Mrs Humble had been left very frightened, said the recorder. She did not want to go out and dreaded being alone in the house.

Collins moaned in a letter to the court that his parents wanted nothing to do with him. The recorder said he was not surprised and added: "Most judges would throw away the key but I will pass a merciful sentence."