A TRICKSTER who took hundreds of pounds off old people by promising them cheap cigarettes, whisky and pet food was traced through his dog and jailed yesterday.

Shaun Bate, 36, took the brown mongrel with him on his door-to-door activities in Hartlepool, bullying vulnerable people into parting with money and giving them nothing in return, said Helen Gamble, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court.

Bate spent the money, between £35 and £55 a time, on heroin.

Twice he forced his way into the homes of victims, who included a woman of 85, a man with Alzheimer's and another who used an invalid buggy, stealing cash from a purse and a coffee jar.

Witnesses gave police a description of a man and his dog, and he was arrested after the dog was identified.

Bate claimed that he was a genuine seller of cheap cigarettes and whisky, but as his heroin habit became worse he used customers' money to buy the drug, said David Lamb defending.

Mr Lamb said that Bate gave up heroin after he was remanded to prison in December, and has gained three-and- a-half stones in weight.

Judge Michael Taylor told him: "I make it plain that people like you who cause menace and terror to elderly people will be locked up for some time."

Bate, of Thackeray Road, Hartlepool, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after he admitted eight thefts during November and December.