A BURGLAR from Studley smeared his face with tomato ketchup before knocking on the door of an elderly couple’s home to trick his way inside and search for cash.

But as Taj Ramzan rifled through a drawer expecting to find a large amount of money, his 86-year-old victim took him by the arm and led him out.

Ramzan, 37, of Station Road, Studley, was jailed for 27 months after pleading guilty at Warwick Crown Court to carrying out the burglary in May with intent to steal.

Prosecutor Anthony Cartin said Ramzan turned up at the elderly couple’s home in Central Avenue, Leamington, at 6.30am.

When the 86-year-old husband answered the door Ramzan, who appeared to have blood on his face, said he had been assaulted and asked for help.

Razman sidled his way in and made his way upstairs and began looking through a drawer, but he was followed by the pensioner, who took hold of his arm and told him to leave.

He did not take anything.

The couple did not report it to the police, but three days later one of their granddaughters was contacted by an ex-partner who said he knew who the offender was.

She met with Ramzan who admitted being responsible, and told her a man called Slim asked him to commit the offence to find what he believed was a substantial amount of money.

Ramzan said he went along with the plan, expecting to share the proceeds.

He told the couple’s granddaughter that once inside he had thought of his own grandparents and thought better of it.

Mr Cartin said the granddaughter’s former partner, who was now the on-off partner of her sister, is known as Slim. He denied any involvement in the offence to police.

The court heard that Ramzan had convictions for offences including burglary and robbery up to 2008, but nothing until five thefts last year.

Nick Devine, defending, explained that Ramzan had had a substantial drug addiction which he conquered in 2008, as a result of which he had stopped offending.

But he was led back into drugs last year and ran up a drugs debt, Mr Devine added.

Jailing Ramzan, Judge Richard Bond told him: “It is to your credit that you turned your back on crime for eight years, but then you went back to your old ways.

“This was a distraction burglary of an old person who is a vulnerable man simply because of his age.”