Burglar tied up Elderly Man & left him for Dead

Adris Mohammed, aged 44, of Birmingham, was convicted of murder after the burglar tied up an elderly man and left him for dead.

He broke into 78-year-old David Varlow’s home in Halesowen and tied him to a chair using a telephone cable.

Mohammed left the man to die of a stress-related heart attack while he went on a spending spree.

Mr Varlow’s body was found by police after his brother and neighbours realised he was missing.

A pair of scissors, a knife and the phone cable all had Mohammed’s DNA on them.

During the investigation, it was revealed that Mohammed had targeted Mr Varlow three times.

On October 24, 2021, Mr Varlow called 999 when he heard glass smashing at his home at around 10:30 pm.

When he turned a light on, the burglar fled.

Officers went to the property and conducted house-to-house enquiries, but found nothing. At this point, Mohammed was not a suspect.

However, Mohammed returned to the property at around 5:20 am on November 3, 2021. He broke in through a window, tied up Mr Varlow and left with his bank card.

Mohammed returned to the house for a third time at around midnight on November 11 with O’Shea Swan.

They untied Mr Varlow, who was now dead and stole a second bank card.

Mr Varlow’s body was found on November 15. Police say he had been dead for some weeks.

More than £8,000 was spent using his stolen card.

CCTV footage showed Mohammed withdrawing cash minutes after the burglary. He was also spotted on camera selling a gold bangle at Cash Converters in Stafford.

A friend of Mohammed’s used the victim’s card to buy the bangle, and Mohammed wanted to turn the purchase into cash by selling it.

Approximately £550 was withdrawn by Mohammed and the rest by those he had shared it with. Two other people have been convicted of fraud.

Mohammed was found guilty of attempted burglary, aggravated burglary, murder and fraud. He was also convicted of the further burglary on November 11.

Swan, aged 42, of Birmingham, was convicted of the November 11 burglary and fraud.

Both men will be sentenced on May 25, 2022.

Detective Inspector Ranj Sangha, who led the investigation, said:

“Mr Varlow suffered an appalling ordeal, being tied up and essentially left for dead by a man whose only interest was to steal from him.

“We believe that Mohammed returned to Mr Varlow’s house for a third and final time, knowing that he was either still tied up or dead.

“But instead of doing the right thing and calling for help, he went on to steal from him again, with Swan going along to help.

“Thankfully, burglaries involving this level of violence are rare, but that will come as little comfort to Mr Varlow’s family.

“I hope that the verdicts today will at least give his family some comfort that we have been able to get justice from him.”