Crime too difficult for elderly burglar

A 76-year-old man who has dedicated himself to a life of crime is finally going straight after complaining that burglary these days is too hard.

He said: "It's getting harder and harder for criminals, with all the CCTV cameras and DNA evidence. It's a mugs' game. I'll never get into trouble again."

His latest spell inside came after he was jailed in August for three months after being caught in the early hours carrying a bag loaded with a crowbar, two screwdrivers, a chisel, a butane gas burner, a torch, a magnifying glass and gloves. He admitted going equipped for burglary claiming he had wanted to steal some planks to build a ferret run.

His life of burglary and theft began in the middle of the Second World War, when he was 11 years old. Records show he was given a year's probation on August 31, 1943, for "larceny", the old term for theft.

Since then he has clocked up 69 convictions, with another 48 crimes taken into consideration, and served time in 14 prisons.

Now he wants to settle down and spend his remaining years with his three children, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He said: "I would tell any youngsters thinking of going into a life of crime that they shouldn't. I've wasted my life in prison and I never made any money out of crime."