A THIEF who targeted five women as he carried out a crime wave in his town has been jailed for three years.

David Andrew Nacey, 64, pressurised an elderly woman into giving him money, York Crown Court heard.

Judge Simon Hickey said the thief took cash off her as soon as she got it from a post office account and when he accompanied her to a cash machine in a garage, an employee there challenged him.

Nacey replied: “She’s got Alzheimer’s. I’ve already had £100 from her. She doesn’t have a clue”, said Judge Simon Hickey.

In total he took £350 from her.

In a separate incident, Nacey rang a Tadcaster pub and threatened to burn it down with the landlady and her partner inside.

He had already been banned from the pub because of his behaviour there in the past.

He then rang 999, said he was going to “shoot” people including Donald Trump because of the way the NHS had treated him.

Police went to his location and arrested him. He didn’t have a weapon.

He pestered a third woman whom he knew was in pain from a spinal injury and despite being told to keep away from her continued to go to her house.

On one occasion, he took a homemade knife made with broken glass to her home and asked her to hand over her morphine.

He didn’t use the knife but she found it later in a bag he left on her doorstep.

It was the second time police had found his weapons - he was on bail for having two knives on a Wakefield caravan site.

He stole items from the garden of a Tadcaster woman where she had put them as she moved house and sneaked a fifth woman’s purse out of her car while distracting her with chat.

Before she realised what he had done he had used her bank card and “cleaned out” her bank account.

She had to borrow money to feed her family until she was refunded.

“There are a number of different victims and of particular note, they are nearly all women,” said the judge.

Nacey, formerly of Tadcaster, pleaded guilty to 17 offences - eight thefts, five frauds, two offences of carrying a knife in public, one of having an offensive weapon and one malicious phone call.

He asked for a public order offence to be taken into consideration.

He targeted two garages during his crime spree which also included shoplifting and card fraud.

The offences occurred between July and September last year.

He was jailed for three years.

For him, Graham Parkin said Nacey suffered from a severe depressive disorder and ongoing bi-polar disorder.

He also had chronic health problems.

His well-being depended on him taking his medication.