Bogus caller jailed for string of burglaries from elderly people across the West Country

A 50-year-old man who stole from elderly people across the West Country has been jailed for seven years and eight months. Shane Jarvis came to their homes pretending to be from the water board or electricity company and took their bank cards. His oldest victim was 96-years-old.

Shane Jarvis, who's 50, admitted burgling old and vulnerable people across the West Country. Credit: Wiltshire Police

Wiltshire Police say Jarvis would call at addresses and gain entry by claiming to be from the water board or the electricity company – once inside the addresses he would steal purses from victims and before leaving he would ask for their phone number. He would call them and claim to be a police officer or from their bank and obtain their PIN number so he could withdraw cash from their accounts.

The offences began in Swindon on 17 December, 2019 and Jarvis was arrested in Bristol on 6 February, 2020.

Officers were able to link Jarvis to two offences in Salisbury, two in Swindon, three in Warminster, two in Westbury, two in Gloucestershire, two in Plymouth and two in Avon & Somerset.

Police were able to link Jarvis to 15 offences across the West Country. Credit: ITV West Country

In total, Shane Jarvis pleaded guilty to 11 burglaries and a further four were taken into consideration by the judge at Swindon Crown Court on sentencing him.

Police say a lot of the victims are still struggling to come to terms with what happened to them. Detective Constable Mark Welch from Wiltshire Police says “Jarvis did not care about the impact of his actions on his victims – his behaviour was appalling."

Detectives say they were pleased to have arrested Jarvis before he could target any more victims.