A former lodger who returned to steal irreplaceable rings from his widowed landlady has been branded as mean by a judge.

Jonathan Grant was desperate for money after moving out of the landlady’s home into his own flat in Dawlish that he went back to raid it.

He stole five rings worth £1,500 and sold them for just £120 to a jeweller, who melted them down for their gold and silver content.

Grant, aged 34, of West Cliff, Dawlish, admitted burglary and was jailed for eight months, suspended for two years, ordered to pay £1,500 compensation, do 100 hours’ unpaid community work and 20 days’ rehabilitation activities by Judge Graham Cottle at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: ‘This case is on the cusp of immediate custody, so mean was it. That is the striking feature of this case. It was unbelievably mean, even if you had financial problems.

‘You stole from somebody who had shown you nothing but kindness. It was a very unpleasant thing to do.

‘The consequence of this breach of trust is that she now has the greatest difficulty trusting people, and not surprisingly. It has undermined her confidence and caused problems with her employment.’

Miss Anita Noerr, prosecuting, said Grant had previously lodged at the victim’s home in Torquay and returned for a few days this summer after splitting up with his girlfriend.

He left on July 4 to move into his own accommodation but retained a key and stole the rings from the landlady’s bedroom while returning to pick up a shirt which he had left.

The landlady did not realise he had stolen them for a week and was devastated by the theft because the rings had great sentimental value. One was inherited from her mother and another was a gift from her late husband.

She made a victim impact statement which reveals how she had trusted Grant so much that she had booked a £243 flight to Portugal for him on her credit card.

Grant promised to buy back the rings but they had already been melted down by the jeweller who had bought them for less than a tenth of their true value.

Mr Paul Dentith, mitigating, said Grant was desperate for money at the time and had intended to return the rings but been unable to do so.

He had lost his job at a holiday park as a result of his arrest but is now working for a traffic management company and can pay compensation from his wages.