A persistent burglar who preyed on elderly people living alone in Oxford faced 11 years in jail today.

William Clare, 56, got in through a window at the home of 89-year-old Elsie Honour last May and stole her purse and jewellery.

He asked a judge at Oxford Crown Court to take into consideration five similar burglaries at the homes of people aged between 74 and 92, commited between February and August last year.

Nikki Duncan, prosecuting, said police arrested Clare as his record of preying on elderly people made him a prime suspect.

When blood found at the scene matched his DNA, he claimed he had entered the home after hearing a woman cry for help. Later he admitted burglary.

The court heard Clare, of Lake Street, Oxford, had 75 previous convictions and in April this year, had been jailed for five years for stealing £3,000 of goods from a 92-year-old woman.

He was also told to serve two years and 135 days of a previous sentence.

Sentencing Clare to four years in jail for burgling Mrs Honour's home, to be served consecutively to the term imposed in April, Judge Anthony King said: "Yet again you have invaded the privacy and comfort of an elderly person."