A cruel conwoman who stole more than £5,000 from an elderly widower has been jailed.

Jacqueline Rigg, 41, was given an 18-month sentence at Carlisle Crown Court.

She had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of theft from the victim, who is aged in his seventies.

During a six-month period last year, Rigg tricked her victim, from the Workington area, into believing they were in a genuine relationship.

The court heard she plundered his savings, even taking cash he had set aside for his own funeral.

She regularly lied and also verbally abused and intimidated her victim when he protested about what she was doing.

Judge Peter Hughes QC was told a total of £5,150 was stolen from the man, who was left having nightmares and contemplating suicide.

Not a penny of the money stolen has been paid back.

Sentencing Rigg, of no fixed address but formerly of Workington, the judge said: "This was a particularly mean and nasty course of conduct."

A restraining order was imposed, which prohibits her contacting the victim in any way indefinitely.

After the hearing, DC Carolyn Orr, of the Public Protection Unit, said: “We take offences of this nature, where offenders are seeking to take advantage of vulnerable, elderly people, extremely seriously.

“I would like to thank the victim for his bravery in coming forward to the police to report what had happened to him.

“This has been a difficult few months for him and I hope that the sentencing today provides him with some closure."