A MAN who posed as a water company worker to con his way into elderly women's homes was today jailed for three years and nine months.

Martin O'Neill, 31, stole about £500 from a 74-year-old woman's home in Wootton, near Abingdon, while on bail for a similar offence.

Tonight, campaigners welcomed the sentence for the father-of-five.

PC Stephen Knight, of Abingdon police station, said: "Distraction burglaries are despicable crimes where the vulnerable are often the victims."

Mary Daniel, chief executive of Age Concern Oxfordshire, said: "We hope this sends out a tough message because distraction burglaries are very distressing, and are particularly distressing for older people to feel they have been fooled in this way."

Jonathan Stone, prosecuting, told Judge Thomas Corrie, at Oxford Crown Court, that O'Neill and an accomplice went to the pensioner's home in November, where the woman was told there were 'water pressure' problems in the street and warned her kitchen might flood.

He said: "She allowed him into the house and he followed her into the kitchen, where he opened cupboards under the sink and told her he needed access to pipes.

"He was also telling her to turn on the tap and watch the water. He said he would have to phone his boss and walked off."

Mr Stone said the victim then went upstairs and found drawers had been ransacked and £400 to £500 taken.

O'Neill's DNA was found on the kitchen taps and the pensioner later picked him out in an identity parade, Mr Stone said.

O'Neill admitted two charges of burglary. The other instance was on a woman in Gloucester, where he failed in his attempt.

Judge Corrie heard O'Neill had a string of previous convictions dating back to 1993, including one for burglary in August 2006.

Timothy Boswell, defending, said O'Neill was "genuinely remorseful".

He said O'Neill suffered from depression, had a history of self-harming and prison was something which he found "difficult".

But Judge Corrie condemned O'Neill for the distress he had caused.

He said: "In your 31 years you have a long criminal record which includes burglary, dishonesty, robbery, theft, assault and driving offences.

"You have a background of dishonesty and you do not come to this court with clean hands."

O"Neill, from Bristol, was ordered to serve the 15-month jail term for the Gloucester burglary and the two-and-a-half-year sentence for the Oxfordshire incident.

He has written a letter of apology to his victim and sent her a cheque for £500.