Sick granddaughter, 32, stole cash from her dying grandad’s pockets as he slept before ransacking his car

A CALLOUS thief preyed on her dying granddad as he slept – before targeting her good Samaritan neighbour twice in three days and stealing her treasured wedding ring.

Faye Knowles, 32, was locked up for more than five years after being condemned by a judge as “wicked” and “beyond contempt”.

Leeds Crown Court heard how the mother-of-one treated terminally-ill Ray Issot as an “easy mark” while he was receiving palliative care in the final stages of his life.

After helping herself to £30 found in the pockets of his jeans, she then grabbed his car keys and ransacked his Ford Kuga looking for more to steal.

Leeds Crown Court heard Mr Issot had since passed away following the theft in April.

Passing sentence, judge Robin Mairs said Knowles’ crimes – in pursuit of funding her class A drug addiction – were “wicked”.

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While on police bail, “shameless” Knowles and two men stole from the home of a “vulnerable” young man with mental illness, taking his Playstation among other personal items from his disability bungalow.

She then twice targeted her kindly neighbour in Wakefield in April this year.

The court heard how she stole £140 kept in a tin at the home of Helen Boughton on April 25 after being invited in.

She returned three days later to admit what she had done – but used the confession as “a ruse” to steal more of Ms Boughton’s possessions.

Judge Mairs said: “That confession wasn’t brought about by regret, or by contrition, for what you had done. That confession was another ruse, another hoax.

“Because you offered with your fake contrition to clean her house.

“You did that so you could get access to the upstairs of the premises. You had cleaned the bathroom, and then rooted and rummaged through her drawers for something to steal.

“You stole two men’s watches. And you stole her wedding ring. An item, I have no doubt, of great sentimental and emotional value.”

He added: “The effect upon her has been profound. She has changed her lifestyle. She now lives behind closed curtains. She has changed her route home to avoid people like you.

“This is what happens when you enter and steal from people’s homes -from where they should, feel safe, protected and secure.

“When you steal from them, what you do is you take that sense of security and safety from them.”

Knowles, who admitted counts of burglary, theft and attempted theft, also stole an electric scooter from the home of another woman.

She sobbed over a video-link from New Hall prison as she was jailed for five years and four months.