Preston Burglar Lee Muir Jailed After Posing as Roofer to Target Pensioner's Home

A predatory distraction burglar has been jailed for five years after posing as a professional roofer to gain entry to the home of a pensioner in his nineties before ransacking his belongings and stealing cash.

Lee Muir, 37, of Fleetwood, targeted the elderly victim on February 10, 2025, at a property on Symonds Road in Preston. Muir convinced the vulnerable resident that urgent roof repairs were required. Once allowed inside the premises, Muir abandoned any pretense of maintenance work, instead rifling through the pensioner's private cupboards and drawers. He fled the scene with a sum of cash, leaving the victim deeply shaken.

Following a rapid investigation by Lancashire Police's South Residential Burglary Team, Muir was identified and arrested. Officers discovered that Muir was actively breaching a strict 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), which explicitly prohibited him from canvassing for work or entering any domestic property without prior invitation.

At Preston Crown Court, the prosecution detailed Muir's extensive criminal record, which included a separate residential burglary, the theft of a designer wallet from a different property in September 2024, driving while disqualified, and engaging in unfair trade practices. The judge sentencing Muir noted the "mean and calculated" nature of distraction burglary, particularly when targeting the elderly. Muir was handed a total sentence of five years' imprisonment, a decision welcomed by local crime prevention teams hoping to restore reassurance to the Preston community.