Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Parkinson’s sufferer, 75, bravely beat ‘despicable’ Dundee thief with walking stick as her sheltered house was raided

Parkinson's sufferer Dundee thief
Dundee Sheriff Court.

A heartless thief barged her way into the homes of two frail pensioners and made off with nearly £500.

A 75-year-old woman with Parkinson’s disease bravely used her walking stick to try and fight off Kelly Whyte in February.

Whyte, 41, forced her way into the woman’s sheltered housing accommodation on Dundee’s Kinghorne Road.

She also managed to enter the home of a 65-year-old man with multiple sclerosis.

Dundee Sheriff Court was told how the pensioners have been left “traumatised” by their ordeals at the hands of Whyte.

She is now facing a lengthy jail term and could be placed on an order designed to protect the public after her release from prison.

Barged into houses

Prosecutor Stewart Duncan revealed how Whyte, who normally lives on Dundee’s Dundonald Street, entered the vulnerable pair’s homes after saying she needed a pound and needed to use the toilet.

Parkinson's sufferer Dundee thief
The sheltered housing on Kinghorne Road.

He said: “The first complainer was in her home at 3.25pm when she heard someone knocking the door.

“She unlocked the door and the accused barged past her and went to the living room, stating she needed a pound.

“She picked up her purse that was on a display and found it was empty.

“The complainer got a second purse and the accused snatched it and began to rifle through it.

“She retrieved £260 in notes and demanded more money.

“The complainer told the accused she wouldn’t be getting more money and struck her with her walking stick in order to get her to leave.”

However, Whyte managed to snatch a bottle full of coins, which totalled £200.

Victim left ‘badly shaken’

Around the same time, she forced her way into the other man’s home despite his best efforts to remove her.

The man threatened Whyte with the police before she eventually left with £15 from his wallet.

Mr Duncan revealed how the man was left “badly shaken” and fearful.

Police were contacted and CCTV from the area showed Whyte trying to exchange coins in a takeaway.

Whyte was traced and found to have an “irregular bulge” in her sleeve which was found to be a number of notes. A large amount of loose change was also found.

The thief tried to claim she had been to her father’s address to pick up benefit money but he denied any money had been withdrawn.

‘Despicable’

Whyte, a prisoner of HMP Polmont Brightons, appeared via video link to plead guilty to barging into the woman’s home on Kinghorne Road on February 17 before demanding money, struggling with her, robbing her of £260 in notes and a glass bottle containing £200 worth of coins.

She also struggled with a man on the same street and robbed him of £15.

Solicitor Jim Laverty conceded Whyte’s actions were “despicable” and his client fully expects a jail term.

Sheriff Gregor Murray deferred sentence until later this month and ordered an assessment for a supervised release order.

He told Whyte: “A significant custodial sentence is going to be imposed in this case.”