Conmen turn off OAP's oxygen supply

Two men turned off a 91-year-old woman's oxygen supply after conning their way into her home to steal money, police said today.

The pair knocked on her door in Southampton yesterday and said they were water board employees and needed to check out a possible leak.

The woman had an oxygen machine by her front door, to which she was attached by tubes, and the men turned it off as they entered the house. They then told her to empty a cupboard under her sink.

While one went with her the other stayed in the hall and searched her handbag. She eventually saw him and the pair quickly left, but they took £160 from her bag, police said.

The woman managed to turn her oxygen machine back on once they had left.

Detective Constable Brett Saunders said: "It's hard to believe anyone could stoop so low as to con a vulnerable elderly woman out of her money and also turn off her oxygen machine without giving a thought to the effect it might have had on her had she not been able to turn it back on again.

"We really want to catch the two men involved and are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with information about who these men may be to get in contact with us."