Woman who suspected her cleaner of stealing £2,000 worth of jewellery cracks the case herself and finds proof – after police dropped it saying there was not enough evidence
- Angela Rees suspected cleaner Billi-Jo Pratt of stealing some of her valuables
- She reported it to police but was told there was not enough evidence
- Ms Rees tracked the items to a jewellers in Ramsgate where Pratt had sold them
A woman who had £2,000 worth of jewellery stolen from her house by her cleaner was forced to gather the proof of it herself after police said there was not enough evidence and dropped the case.
Angela Rees, from Broadstairs in Kent, became suspicious of agency worker Billi-Jo Pratt after she noticed items were going missing from her house.
Ms Rees, 57, became distressed after precious earrings, rings and jewels disappeared from her home only two days after Pratt had been inside.
She reported it to the police, who dropped the case after saying there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges against 27-year-old Pratt.
Ms Rees then launched her own investigation, tracking down her valuables to a local pawn shop – which had CCTV showing Pratt selling the goods to them.
Billi-Jo Pratt stole nearly £2,000 worth of jewellery from a home she was cleaning in Broadstairs, Kent
The 27-year-old had denied knowing what had happened to the jewellery when questioned by police
After alerting police to the new evidence, officers questioned Pratt, who this time admitted to the crime – she has since been ordered to complete community service and fined.
Margate Magistrates’ Court was told Ms Rees’ jewellery had gone missing in April last year, just two days after Pratt had been cleaning at the house.
The valuable collection, worth around £1,825, included gold earrings, a sapphire pendant set, a yellow sapphire ring and other rings and earrings.
Ms Rees had suspected her cleaner of the crime, and Pratt was interviewed by police.
However, the thief told officers she had no idea who had taken the jewellery – and even brazenly suggested Ms Rees’s boyfriend might be to blame.
Ms Rees was told by police that there was insufficient evidence to charge Pratt, and the case against her agency cleaner was dropped.
But Mr Rees was not satisfied with this, and felt it necessary to launch her own inquiries into the theft.
She visited a local pawnbroker shop, Carthew Jewellers Pawnbrokers shop in Ramsgate, and asked if they’d seen her jewellery.
Pratt was caught on CCTV selling the jewellery she had taken at a local pawnbrokers in Ramsgate
Margate Magistrates’ Court heard Pratt was homeless at the time after fleeing domestic violence
The shopkeeper told her they had recently purchased her jewels from Pratt, and even had the CCTV footage to prove it.
Ms Rees alerted police who again interviewed Pratt, who this time owned up to her crime.
The court heard Pratt had recently fled her home because of domestic violence and was homeless at the time of the theft with very little money to live on.
Her legal representative also insisted the theft had been ‘out of character’ for the ‘trusted’ cleaner.
Pratt avoided a prison sentence, with magistrates giving her an 18-month community order and telling her to do 100 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation sessions.
The cleaner, who was in breach of a suspended sentence for a driving offence in 2021, must also pay a victim surcharge of £95 and £85 costs.
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.’
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