A housekeeper who used her employer’s trust to steal her valuables was caught in the act trying to resell the items on eBay to pay her bills.
“I understand that you did not steal as part of some elaborate criminal scheme, but to pay your bills. However, this is a grotesque breach of trust,” Judge Michael Hayton told Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court on Tuesday, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Gold wedding ring, luxury purse, family heirloom: Brenda Carberry, 55, was a housekeeper who used access to her victims’ homes to snatch their valuables with the aim of reselling them on eBay.
After noticing the disappearance of her luxury designer Ted Baker handbag and purse, one of her customers tracked down the 50-year-old’s eBay account, where her perfume was already listed, English media reported.
In another case, the thief confiscated a bracelet and wedding ring, both gold, and money from the wallet of a man with Alzheimer’s disease.
“The wedding ring had been given to the woman by her own mother and held great sentimental value for her. Her daughter found that the ring had been sold through the defendant’s eBay account. However, it could not be restored,” concluded Crown Prosecutor Edmund Potts.
In all, Brenda Carberry pleaded guilty to theft from five separate homes.
“Most of the items taken were extremely sentimental to their owners. “One can only imagine how upsetting it is when a wedding ring is stolen,” the judge continued, according to the Manchester Evening News.
But despite his serious crimes, which “exceeded the limits of his detention”, the judge took into account the “difficult family circumstances and mental health problems” and imposed a suspended sentence of 12 months.
The woman must also do 80 hours of community service and complete 15 hours of rehabilitation.