UPDATE: Mean career criminal targeted vulnerable disabled Sheffield woman

James Dixon befriended a vulnerable wheelchair-bound disabled woman and tricked his way into her Sheffield bungalow before stealing from her.

His 50-year-old victim Sarah Lloyd was left seriously disabled after suffering a bleed on the brain and is paralysed down her left side and has difficulty speaking, Sheffield Crown court heard.

Dixon, 33, of Castle Street in Sheffield city centre, had only been released from prison two months before the theft after serving a 27-month jail term for his latest burglary.

Sheffield Crown Court was told he has a string of convictions with 61 for dishonesty and has served a number of prison sentences for robbery and burglary.

Jailing him for 20 months, the judge Recorder Paul Isaacs told Dixon: “She was as vulnerable a victim as you could possibly imagine and I have no doubt you decided to take advantage of her.

“You entered on a false basis and whist there you took your chance which is why you went into the property in the first place.

“In my view you are a man, as your record shows, who lives his life by committing crime. The one fact in your favour is that you pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.”

Prosecutor David Wain said Dixon engaged Miss Lloyd in conversation outside her home claiming he was waiting for his brother.

He asked for a glass of water and she let him into her bungalow where he volunteered to walk her dog.

When he returned he followed her inside and began looking round the property but Miss Lloyd could not keep a close eye on him because of her disability.

She later found her iPhone and iPad worth £500 had been stolen. Dixon was arrested a month later on fingerprint evidence.

He accepted stealing the items but denied entering the home as a trespasser saying he had been invited in.

Miss Lloyd said in a victim impact statement: “I’m now nervous and scared and want to leave.”

Dixon admitted theft on May 31. The stolen items have never been found.

Amy Earnshaw, for Dixon, said she accepted it was a ‘mean’ offence.

She said he had become homeless and was unable to take his psychotic medication leaving him in a ‘desperate’ situation when he robbed his victim.

He had spoken to the authorities about making reparation to Miss Lloyd.