A violent cocaine addict desperate for cash stole £700 from a wheelchair-bound pensioner as he preyed on elderly victims in their own homes.

Joe Silver, 29, knocked at the 80-year-old’s house and then charged past him when he opened the door, stealing two wallets from the living room.

The victim attempted to block his exit with his wheelchair but was shoved out of the way by Silver, who jumped on the back of a waiting motorbike and fled from Regency Close in Gillingham.

Just two hours later, on May 11 this year, he went to Stonedane Court in Faversham and walked into the home of an 88-year-old pensioner.

Confronted by the stunned homeowner, Silver said he needed to use the toilet, but instead went into the kitchen, where he admitted: “I’ve just come out of prison.”

He picked up a watch and put it his pocket before again fleeing on the motorbike. The watch was later found on the pensioner’s sofa.

Neither of the victims were hurt, but Silver’s thieving spree turned violent three hours later when a 60-year-old woman refused to let him into her home in Boughton-under-Blean.

He punched her in the face before stepping over her and into the property, where he stole her handbag.

The victim was left with large bruises to her face and arm.

Silver had already admitted the Boughton robbery, plus two burglaries in Westgate, and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court in June to six years in prison.

But he found himself back in the dock this month after details of the other two distraction burglaries came to light.

Silver, of no fixed address, appeared at Maidstone Crown Court by prison video link four days before Christmas to be sentenced for the latest offences.

But Judge Adele Williams sent the case to Canterbury Crown Court, where Silver will be sentenced in January by Judge Rupert Lowe, who jailed him earlier this year.

PC Christopher Jones, who investigated the robbery, said: “Joe Silver showed no remorse for the ordeal he had put his victims through.

“To be able to assault an elderly woman and then step over her for the sake of money is really loathsome.”