A MAN has been sentenced after he conned his way into dozens of elderly people's homes - including two Altrincham addresses.

John Lee Benson, 42, of Sedgefield Close, Salford, pleaded guilty to nine counts of burglary, one count of robbery and one count of attempted burglary.

Forty offences were taken into consideration.

On Monday, Benson was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court to eight years in prison for the burglary offences, and four years in prison for the robbery offence. These sentences will run concurrently.

Since March 2008 officers from all over Greater Manchesters received numerous reports of elderly people having cash stolen from their homes by a man of a similar description claiming to be from the water board.

In each case, Benson's victims were very vulnerable and he always used a similar method to trick and steal from them.

He would arrive at the victim's house and, without producing any ID, would claim he was from the water board to get inside.

He would then distract the occupants, asking them to hold the ballcock in the toilet cistern or giving them a similar meaningless task to keep them occupied. Then he would search the house and steal.

In April 2008 Benson stole two gold rings from a 91-year-old woman, after searching her house on Wigan Road.

This offence followed three previous attempts, over the space of an hour-and-a-half, to steal from three nearby houses. Fortunately on all occasions Benson was not left alone so was unable to steal items.

He also managed to search two houses in Altrincham in the same month in the space of 10 minutes.

In July 2008, the police appealed to the media for information and he was arrested in January 2009 in Little Hulton.

Detective Constable Matt Adshead said: "Bringing Benson to justice is the culmination of lots of hard work by officers across the force.

"He is a relentless offender, preying on vulnerable, elderly people pretending to be from the water board.

"We would like to thank all of those members of the public who gave us the information we needed to see Benson where he now belongs - behind bars.

"To have someone break into your home and steal from you is a terrible experience and that is why burglary is a top priority for the force.”