Woman who suspected cleaner of stealing £2,000 worth of jewellery cracks the case herself after police drop case
13 March 2023, 19:53
A woman who suspected her cleaner of stealing £2,000 worth of her jewellery was forced to solve the mystery herself after police dropped the case due to a lack of evidence.
Angela Rees, from Broadstairs in Kent, was suspicious of agency cleaner Billi-Jo Pratt when her valuable earrings, rings and jewels went missing.
The missing items were reported to police by Ms Rees, but they decided to drop the case after saying there was a lack of evidence to bring charges against Pratt.
But Ms Rees maintained that she believed her cleaner was involved in the disappearance of her jewellery, launching her own investigation.
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She eventually tracked down her jewellery to a local pawn shop, where she was shown CCTV footage of Pratt selling her items.
Ms Rees then alerted the police, who questioned Pratt again. She eventually admitted to the crime.
Pratt has now been ordered to complete community service and fined after stealing around £1,825 worth of jewellery, including gold earrings, a sapphire pendant and yellow sapphire ring.
At one point, Pratt brazenly suggested to police that Ms Rees's boyfriend might have been the thief in question.
Pratt's legal representative insisted that her theft was "out of character" and that she usually acted as a "trusted" cleaner.
The agency worker avoided prison, but was given an 18-month community order. She will have to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation sessions.
Chairman of the bench Diane August said: "This offence was committed in a position of trust and you were under a suspended sentence order at the time.
"We appreciate you were in difficult circumstances fleeing domestic violence and we have taken that in to consideration.
"We will not activate the current suspended sentence order as [the crime] was of a different nature."
