Four teenagers, who caught a thief red handed after he targeted a pensioner in her home, are being praised by the police.
Jason Erskine, 38, of Exeter Street, Blackburn has been jailed for six years three months by a judge at Preston Crown Court after he admitted a charge of burglary.
The court heard Erskine, armed with a hammer, forced his way into the home of 86-year-old Margaret Slater on Hamilton Street, Blackburn in the afternoon of 6th August 2009.
He manhandled Margaret and removed a gold bracelet from her wrist before searching her house for valuables.
While Erskine was upstairs, Margaret tried to raise the alarm by going to her front gate and shouting to passers-by for help.
Hearing this, Erskin ran downstairs and into the front garden where he pushed her to the ground so that he could get out of the gate and ran off.
As a result of the assault Mrs Slater suffered very serious injuries, including a broken hip, from which she will never fully recover.
Her son has since left his job to become her full time carer and she is being supported by the police and other agencies.
As Erskine ran from the house he dropped some of the jewellery and stopped to pick it up. As he did, his scarf slipped down revealing his face. This was seen by a group of four local teenagers aged 13 and 14, who were standing nearby. Once they realised what was going on, they recovered the jewellery and went to help Mrs Slater.
When police arrived at the house the boys handed over the items and told officers where the offender lived. By this time, Erskine had left the area and was on his way to Bolton, where he pawned the stolen jewellery within hours of the burglary.
Commenting on the help the boys gave, officer in the case DC Mark Cruise said: “The boys were willing to help the police and provided evidence that was crucial in proving the case against Erskine.
"One of the boys took part in an identification procedure and was able to identify Erskine as the man he saw running from Mrs Slater’s house. I can’t underestimate the value of the boy’s contribution in making sure Erskine cannot commit any further offences of this nature.”
In recognition of their efforts, all four boys will receive a Chief Superintendent’s Commendation from Eastern Division’s Divisional Commander Bob Eastwood, at a special ceremony to be held at the Greenbank police station.
Head of Blackburn with Darwen CID DI Neil Ashton added: “This is a great opportunity for the police to say thank you to four young men who have shown they care about their community and the people who live within it. It would have been easy to turn away and ignore what was going on, but these lads knew that would have been the wrong thing to do.
“They took it upon themselves to help Mrs Slater, who was obviously in distress and also help the police by providing statements and showing their willingness to attend court and give evidence in person.
“All too often people blame younger members of the community as a whole for anti-social behaviour and other problems neighbourhoods experience. By their actions, these lads have demonstrated young people do have a sense of social responsibility and willingness to help others. The lads and their families should be proud of what they have done.”
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