Conman who stole from pensioners while pretending to be nurse and handyman jailed for nine years

A conman who preyed on pensioners has been jailed after being convicted of multiple crimes.

Robert Markward posed as a handyman, carer, electrician, student nurse and friend of a neighbour to trick his way into OAPs’ homes in Ayr and Prestwick.

The 65-year-old has been sentenced to nine years in prison after a jury at the High Court in Kilmarnock found him guilty of ten charges of fraud, theft and assault.

Markward first pretended to be an odd jobs man called Stevie to get into a vulnerable woman’s home, where he stole a purse containing £350, a bank and store cards and a bus pass.

He gained entry to a 73-year-old woman’s home after lying that he was her mother’s carer, then targeted a neighbour aged 90, saying he was there for electrical checks before stealing £35 and a bank card.

On the same day, Markward told a 97-year-old man living two doors down that he was a nursing student to gain entry.

Shortly after, he went to a nearby retirement complex and conned his way into another 97-year-old’s home by saying he was the neighbour’s friend, before stealing the woman’s purse, more than £200 in cash, a bank card and personal items.

Minutes later, Markward told another resident, aged 94, that he was “looking for Mrs Jordan” and she let him in. However, after he left, bank and cheque books were missing.

Markward was challenged by a 69-year-old man who worked at the complex, but he punched the victim and struck him with a gate, leaving him injured, before fleeing.

Three days later, he got into an 86-year-old woman’s home after saying he knew her and her husband and, moments later, committed a similar fraud in the same street to a woman aged 99.

Markward pretended he was a council worker carrying out checks for his final crime, when he stole a purse and store cards from a 79-year-old woman who let him into her home.

The offences were committed between December 2022 and March 2023.

The jury heard after their verdict that Markward had a police record for 37 similar offences dating as far back as 2002.

He was previously jailed for four years at the High Court in Glasgow for dishonesty offences against pensioners.

But he re-offended while on pre-parole home leave and in 2005 was given six years in jail after posing as a priest and hospice worker to con his victims.

Markward was jailed for seven years in 2010 after telling a woman of 75 that he was her son’s friend before stealing jewellery, a purse holding £120 and bracelets owned by her grandchildren.

Again, he was given early release but was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in 2016 for offences against pensioners in Clydebank.

Markward, who served only six years, told his latest trial he was not the man pictured on a doorbell camera and elsewhere, claiming: “I was picked out at an identity parade, but I wasn’t even in the community.”

Sergeant Shannyn Ross said: “Markward deliberately preyed on vulnerable people in our communities for his own gain. His actions were despicable and caused distress and harm to those he targeted.

“I hope this conviction provides reassurance that we take such offences extremely seriously and will carry out thorough investigations to identify and bring those responsible to justice.

“Anyone with concerns about such activity in their area can contact Police via 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”