EVERY so often a crime comes along which truly disgusts us.

Carl Riddough's actions fit that category. In a series of burglaries, the 20-year-old deliberately targeted elderly and frail victims, many of them living in Acomb. The eldest was 84, the youngest a 51-year-old stroke victim.

One 70-year-old woman he victimised now lives in fear. She locks herself into her home, and is frightened when anyone approaches the door.

Any domestic burglary is a vile invasion of the one place where we should all feel safe - our own home. But by deliberately targeting elderly people, some of them widows, Riddough plumbed the depths.

His crimes were particularly repellent because often he conned his victims into trusting him - only to ruthlessly break that trust. He even sometimes used a 15-year-old boy to distract them while he stole their belongings.

Riddough is now starting a five-and-a-half-year jail sentence. He richly deserves it - especially as he also bullied and assaulted his own partner. We're sure those living nearby will now rally around Riddough's victims.

But this despicable man's story is a reminder of the duty we all have to help look out for the elderly and frail among us. Too many older people are left to live alone, isolated and vulnerable with no one to care about them.

So if you have an elderly neighbour, why not check on them occasionally? It could make a huge difference.