A PENSIONER targeted by the same thief twice in her own home remains fearless, but has warned vulnerable people to check before they open the door.

Eileen Halfpenny, 81, of Saxon Close, Cricklade, first encountered serial distraction thief Shane Jarvis in 2002, but she suffered the same fate last year when he was released for a day towards the end of a seven-year period in prison.

He was sentenced to a further six years for his latest crimes on Friday.

Mrs Halfpenny said: "I always look out the window to know if anyone's coming."

The grandmother-of-five said Jarvis had made other people afraid to answer the door and had given legitimate workmen a bad name.

Mrs Halfpenny could not understand why Jarvis had been allowed to re-offend in the first place.

"Even if he had been a good prisoner it does not mean to say that he should be let out for eight hours," she said.

Jarvis first approached Mrs Halfpenny posing as an electrician who needed to check her sockets, but reappeared last year under the guise of a boiler inspector.

"I did not recognise him - he was totally different," said Mrs Halfpenny.

In both cases, Jarvis employed various distraction techniques to try and get rid of her.

He stole £30 in the first theft, but was not so fortunate second time around, only picking up a bag with an umbrella inside.

Mrs Halfpenny, who worked in the manufacture of Spitfire planes during the Second World War, said she believed she had had the last laugh.

"It was only an umbrella so he had nothing," she said. "I said to the police I wonder which skip he put that in'. He took it and got nothing so I thought I got you this time, mate' - I fooled him."

However, Mrs Halfpenny is not as trusting as she used to be.

She said: "If I'm expecting somebody, they ring and tell me what time they are coming and then I am waiting for them," she said.

Her advice to other pensioners is not to make it easy for criminals as it only takes a couple of seconds for someone to take advantage.

"He did not just come in and I let him look at things. I'm not one of those type of people that lets people wander around my home, though I can understand how older people who cannot go upstairs may."

The area in Cricklade did become more safety conscious after Mrs Halfpenny's first experience, with labels on front doors warning callers to display identification. And she also had a secure lock fitted to the door that only opens from the inside.