A GREAT grandmother who suffered a stroke just hours after conmen raided her home, has died in hospital.
Marjorie Phillips, aged 87, of Rozel Crescent in Great Sankey, was paralysed after being duped by two men who claimed they were repairing her neighbour's roof.
The pensioner was conned in to handing over £140 in cash, her bank cards and personal identification numbers on Thursday, November 29, around 2.30pm.
That night she had a stroke, which doctors believe was a direct result of the attack.
Her son, David Phillips, aged 57, said: "Although there was no physical or sexual assault, it was the enormous trauma the attack brought on that caused the stroke.
"The whole family is absolutely devastated. We want these men brought to justice and dealt with the heaviest of penalties."
Mrs Phillips had four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Her family kept a bedside vigil during the last week of her life, but she died on January 22 at Warrington Hospital. Her funeral was held at St Paul's Church in Penketh on Thursday.
The men may have left the scene in a small blue van.
The first man is white, slim, around 5ft 7ins tall, with short, fair hair. He is in his late 40s and was wearing a zipper top and black shoes.
The second man is white, with short, black hair, of slim build, around 5ft tall and in his late 40s. He was wearing a navy blue coat and dark blue or black trousers and shoes.
Anyone with any information should call Warrington Police on 01244 615836.
* POLICE officers are warning that people need to be aware of the link between cold callers and bogus burglaries.
Detective Sergeant Adrian Priest is investigating Majorie Phillips' case.
He says that 12,000 crimes of this kind are committed nationally each year and that officers are working with Trading Standards to try to catch the perpetrators who con victims into having work done such as their hedges trimmed or fences fixed.
He said: "We think people are cold calling and identifying elderly people to target. Our message would be don't allow anybody to do work on your house who is cold calling.
"Ideally I would like all the elderly people in Warrington to be on the Trading Standards iCAN scheme."
iCAN is a free service that broadcasts warnings to members to alert them to the latest consumer rip-offs that have hit the town.
Messages can be received by telephone, text message or e-mail. To request an application form, or to speak to anyone about iCAN call 442673 and ask for Edwina Greenwood.
To report people acting suspiciously in your area call 08454 04 05 06.
