Cheshire cleaner stole goods worth £42,000 from customers
A cleaner who stole £30,000 worth of items from one customer and jewellery valued at up to £12,000 from another has been jailed.
Nicola Walker, 35, of Radcliffe Close in Tarvin, Cheshire admitted stealing from seven customers at Chester Crown Court and was sentenced to 16 months. She was caught when a woman, from Tarporley, set her a trap by leaving a ring in the bathroom she was cleaning. Walker later admitted pawning other jewellery at a shop in Chester. She had stolen from her clients, including two from Tarporley, two from Northwich, one in Chester and one in Frodsham to pay off her debts, Cheshire Police said. The customers reported that jewellery, department store vouchers and money had been taken. 'Breach of trust' The woman who set the trap confronted Walker about the missing ring, who eventually revealed it was in her pocket. The pair went to the pawn shop in Chester to try to buy back her other jewellery but it had already been sold, police said. Walker then handed herself in to police. Det Con Tom Philpotts said Walker's theft from her customers had been the "ultimate breach of trust". "Her clients brought her into their homes and trusted her to do her job but she took advantage of this and used it as an opportunity to steal thousands of pounds worth of personal items from them." Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service - GOV.UK