A trainee special constable tried to con an elderly woman out of £10,000 and valuable jewellery by posing as a courier, a court has heard.

Naiem Hussain, 21, allegedly took part in the scam by escorting 86-year-old Doris King to a bank in Hainault to collect the money.

He turned up at her flat in Chigwell in February last year after she was called by a person claiming to be a policeman saying her debit card had been cloned.

“Pc Brown” told Ms King she would have to bring the money along with a gold watch and a pearl necklace to the Old Bailey to prove she was not involved in the fraud, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard on Tuesday.

Sheilagh Davies, prosecuting, said: “She had reservations. The next morning she was called by PC Brown and told her that a courier would be with her a little later that morning.

“She gave him her address and shortly a buzzer went at her door and the courier had arrived.

“The courier was this defendant, Hussain, who was at the time a trainee special police constable.”

Ms King was told to go to two banks and withdraw £5,000 from each and if anyone asked she could tell them she needed the cash to get her boiler fixed.

Hussain allegedly helped her into a taxi to Lloyds bank in Manford Way.

But staff became suspicious when Ms King asked for the funds and called police, who arrested Hussain at a nearby bus stop.

He admits being “the courier” but denies knowing his actions were helping to defraud the elderly woman.

Ms Davies said: “Hussain was said to be regularly texting on his phone throughout the journey in the car and told the driver he did know the old lady.”

Fortunately Ms King did not lose out on any money and no jewellery was lost, jurors were told.

Hussain, of Guinness Court, Mansell Street, Aldgate, denies conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation and attempting to commit fraud by false representation.

The trial continues.