A dishonest grandmother with an "extraordinary" 40-year-long criminal record is behind bars for posing as a police officer to hoodwink a pensioner.

Serial fraudster Kathleen Perry - whose offending was said to be "so relentless" the courts had difficulty keeping apace - targeted her victim in what a judge described as the "most callous way possible".

Maidstone Crown Court heard the 58-year-old was wearing a security armband when she called at the man's home in the town in September 2022.

She then lied that he would be arrested for sexually assaulting a child if he did not hand over his bank card and PIN.

The frightened pensioner complied and, together with a female accomplice, Perry went to a nearby ATM and withdrew £500 in two transactions.

The crook, from Maidstone, returned the card, saying she would be back the following day, but he alerted his family.

A month earlier Perry had targeted a 69-year-old woman, also vulnerable and living alone, falsely claiming she knew her recently deceased neighbour in order to con her into handing over her bank card and PIN.

With the same accomplice, the crook then withdrew £100 and £120 from a cashpoint.

Four years earlier, Perry, who is a mother-of-five with 11 grandchildren, had been caught red-handed trying to smuggle cocaine, cannabis and a phone SIM card to an inmate at HMP Wandsworth.

The court heard Perry hid the contraband in a crisp packet which she then passed to her daughter's boyfriend during a prison visit on November 30, 2018.

The surreptitious exchange was captured on CCTV and she was arrested.

Despite maintaining her innocence at the time, Perry went on to claim she had been coerced and threatened into handing over the illicit items in fear of her family being hurt.

But having been released by police - either on bail or under investigation - the long-term con artist went on to not only trick her two elderly victims out of cash but also commit three shoplifting offences amounting to more than £657 of goods.

In that same time, the one-time heroin addict also racked up further convictions for fraud, possessing heroin, theft, driving without insurance, travelling on the railway without a fare and drug-driving.

In total, she has 30 previous convictions for 128 offences dating back to 1984, leading a judge at her latest court appearance on Thursday (April 25) to remark her criminal activity was virtually non-stop.

Faced with finally sentencing Perry, of Acorn Place, Park Wood, for the 2018 prison offences as well as the shoplifting, thefts and frauds in 2022 - 13 charges in all - Judge Robert Lazarus told her that although the delay was "significant", it was partly due to "the difficulty the court has in keeping ahead of your relentless offending".

"I simply have never experienced somebody who has such a history of fraud offences, including serious fraud and obtaining property and services by deception, committed over several decades and almost incessantly," he said.

The judge also remarked that despite his concerns over her credibility, he was "bound" to accept her account that she was forced to take the drugs and SIM into jail as the prosecution had not been able to prove otherwise.

But as someone who "cannot be trusted", Perry's deception had had "significant emotional impact" on her two fraud victims, he added.

"This case isn't primarily about money but the impact it had on the individuals, and I have heard about the upset and distress caused," said Judge Lazarus.

"It was a joint enterprise with deliberate targeting of vulnerable individuals in the most callous way possible."

Perry, who has been on remand since September 2022, was jailed for a total of five years and one month.

She was also given a 10-year restraining order in respect of the two fraud victims, and a stringent five-year criminal behaviour order restricting her attendance at banks, building societies and ATMs.

It also bans her from possessing or using cheque books and bank, debit, credit and store cards belonging to others, and from approaching members of the public to ask for money.