A thief who stole from elderly people has been locked up for more than three years.

Chantelle Brown, 24, targeted pensioners in a supported housing scheme in Victoria Street, Gillingham, as well as others in their own homes and even stole cash from someone she knew.

She had called there at about 11pm on Thursday, December 7, and persuaded a man in his 70s to let her into the communal entrance.

Once inside, Brown, headed towards a lounge area and stole a laptop which she hid in a bag before leaving.

The offence was caught on CCTV.

Then in January, she went to the home of another pensioner in his 70s at his home in Crown Street, in Gillingham.

She knew the elderly man and at about 3am on Friday, January 12, Brown forced her way into his home before she assaulted him and started searching his home for cash.

She found some hidden inside the fridge, which she stole before leaving the premises.

Then just a week later Brown knocked on the door of a house in Balmoral Road, Gillingham.

The pensioner who lived there, a man in his 80s, did not know Brown but she asked him for a glass of water before also asking to use his toilet.

Once inside the home she stole jewellery boxes from his bedroom before leaving.

Police found the jewellery boxes the following day, but the contents were missing.

The court heard how Brown had also stolen money from a woman she knew while she was inside her house in Parr Avenue, Gillingham, on two occasions in January and later that month, she also stole perfume from a shop in Chatham.

Brown, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to three charges of burglary, theft from a dwelling, assault by beating, breach of a restraining order and shoplifting, when she appeared at Maidstone Crown Court, and was locked up for three years and eight months.

DC Phil Pead, who investigated the cases, said: "Brown committed these offences in order to help fund her lifestyle and she did not worry about the distress she caused to her victims, most of whom were vulnerable.

"I’m pleased we have been able to charge her for these offences and that she has received this sentence.

"It will hopefully give her time to reflect on her lifestyle and to help her make better choices when her sentence is completed."