Joe Annerson was jailed for four years

A 63-year-old swindler who posed as a repair man to sneak into bank vaults and steal £100,000 in cash has been jailed for four years.

Joe Annerson and an unnamed accomplice masqueraded as air-conditioning engineers in a three-month crime spree, tricking their way into banks’ low-security areas and snatching bundles of cash, keys and cheque books, a court heard.

It took bank staff hours to realise anything was missing, by which time the pair had fled the scene.

Using the ruse he stole money from banks and building societies across London and in Brighton.

On March 1 at Croydon Crown Court, Annerson, from Canonbury Road in Islington, pleaded guilty to six counts of artifice burglary offences, including similar cons in Brighton, Croydon and Chelmsford.

Det Con Lewis Sanderson, who was leading the investigation, said: “This was a sophisticated scam that Annerson was involved with, targeting banks and building societies across the south-east. However, despite the weight of evidence against him, Annerson never admitted to any of the offences during interview with us and has not revealed the identity of his accomplice, who we are still keen to identify and bring to justice.

“The banks affected have taken steps to improve their procedures to prevent this from happening in the future and assisted us fully throughout the investigation.”

Anyone with information about the remaining suspect contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.