IN the late 1990s Janet Lestrade was jailed for eight burglaries in which she targeted the old and the vulnerable.

More than a decade later she is in court yet again for conning a pensioner and stealing his money.

The circumstances of this latest case are tragic, with Adam Biel — a truly vulnerable 83-year-old — dying about a week later, with his family firmly believing the shock of being Lestrade’s latest victim was to blame.

Yesterday, Lestrade, a drug addict, was sentenced to 32 months in jail.

While she was sentenced for theft and not for any offence of killing Mr Biel, surely the Recorder, Miss Belinda Bucknall, should have delivered a harsher sentence.

Lestrade is nothing short of a menace to the elderly and vulnerable of our society. She was jailed for three years in 1998, four years in 2002 and two years and nine months in 2006.

Yesterday should have been the day that Lestrade felt the full force of the law. Theft can attract a maximum sentence of seven years.

The very real harm that someone like Lestrade causes the elderly was tragically demonstrated in this case.

And she has shown that she cannot be rehabilitated, after being given too many chances.

Punishment and protection of the public is surely the only thing any reasonable judge can now aim for.

It is to be hoped that we shall not report on Janet Lestrade again. But that seems doubtful.