A PENSIONER who fleeced two elderly women he befriended of their savings has been convicted of theft and fraud.

Francis Winters stole £8,000 from Sheila Mayneord and swindled Audrey Ashby out of £1,100.

Winters and his wife Brenda became carers for Mrs Mayneord until her family noticed irregularities in her Post Office account.

A large number of withdrawals over a three month period amounted to £2,900.

A further £5,100 was taken from her HSBC bank account.

Winters got cash from Mrs Ashby by getting her to sign blank cheques, then filling them in for larger amounts than she had specified to pay her bills.

A jury at Worcester Crown Court found 75-year-old Winters, of Gorsey Close in Astwood Bank, guilty of one count of theft and four of fraud.

He was cleared of a further count of fraud against Mrs Ashby.

After the trial began, Mrs Winters - who was also charged with the £8,000 theft - became too ill to attend court.

Judge Patrick Thomas QC told the jury not to deliberate on her charge.

He remanded the husband on bail for pre-sentence and medical reports.

Prosecutor Daniel White said it was not in the public interest to stage a retrial for 77-year-old Mrs Winters. She was given a not guilty verdict.

The defendant will be dealt with in the week beginning December 10 at Birmingham Crown Court, where the judge will then be sitting.

Winters has 26 previous offences of dishonesty on his record but the crimes go back 30 years.

A proceeds of crime hearing will take place at a date to be fixed in a bid to retrieve the missing money and hand it back to the victims' families.