A 90-YEAR-OLD woman has been the victim of a distraction burglary in her Newton Abbot home, in what police describe as a despicable crime.

She had around £50 stolen from her purse after twice letting the suspect into her Wolborough Street home.

On the first occasion on Sunday between 2pm and 3pm, a man knocked on the woman’s front door saying he had been running and asked to use her toilet and have a drink of water. She let him in and the following day he returned again supposedly to say hello and he was allowed in again and had a drink of water.

After the man had left the second time the woman realised that sometime during the two visits the money had been removed from her purse.

He is described as white, around 17 or 18 years old, 5ft 8ins to 5ft 10ins of slim build. Clean shaven, he had dark, ruffled hair which was spiked to about two inches at the front, while the remainder of his hair was tidy and not long.

The suspect was wearing a dark jacket, dark jeans and dirty white trainers.

DC Rich Jones said: ‘This is a despicable crime involving the deliberate targeting of an elderly person.’

Anyone who saw the man or anyone acting suspiciously in the area or anybody that has information that could help officers with their inquiries is asked to contact the police by calling 101, or by emailing [email protected] and quoting the log number 0628 of April 25.