Police are investigating a distraction burglary which left an elderly Brookmans Park couple £200 out-of-pocket and badly shaken.

The incident happened on Friday, January 17, when a 79-year-old woman returned home after shopping in Sainsbury’s at Potters Bar; she had also withdrawn cash from Lloyds Bank.

As she got out of her car at her Brookmans Park home, a man approached her and claimed that she had been the witness to an accident in which a child had been knocked over. The man said it had happened in the car park at Sainsbury’s.

The man talked his way into the pensioner's home where her 80-year-old husband was waiting. The man then made the excuse that he had to return to his car to get a statement form, but he didn't return.

After he left the woman noticed that her purse, containing around £200, was missing.

Police are investigating, but the warning is not to allow strangers into your home and to be careful you are not being followed after withdrawing cash.

Those with elderly neighbours, who are not online, might want to pass on the warning by phone

You can discuss this issue in the forum.

January 18, 2003

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