Woman who found stolen jewellery 'stunned' when police didn't charge

EXCLUSIVE: Woman who turned detective to solve £2,000 burglary at her home by hunting down her jewellery at pawn shop was ‘stunned’ when police said there was not enough evidence to prosecute

• Angela Rees, 57, suspected cleaner Billi-Jo Pratt, 27, of stealing jewelry from her
• Police dropped case but she found pendant at pawn shop who had CCTV of Pratt

A woman who turned detective to crack a £2,000 burglary at her own home has told MailOnline how she was ‘stunned’ to find her jewellery for sale at a pawnbroker after cops said there was not enough evidence to pursue the case.

IT consultant Angela Rees, 57, suspected her cleaner Billi-Jo Pratt, 27, was behind the theft after noticing pendants, earrings and rings worth £1,825 missing from her rural country farmhouse home.

But despite telling police of her suspicions, they said there was not enough evidence to pursue the investigation and dropped the case – leaving Angela furious and determined to bring the culprit to justice.

Angela, from Broadstairs, Kent, told MailOnline: ‘I was furious they wouldn’t look into the case as in my opinion it was pretty obvious who was responsible – I noticed the items had gone just a couple of days after she came to clean and no one else had been in.

‘I told the police my suspicions and they questioned her but said there wasn’t enough evidence and dropped the case, so I decided to do the hard work myself and went to all the jewellers and pawnbrokers in the area.

IT consultant Angela Rees (pictured), 57, who cracked a £2,000 burglary at her own home was ‘stunned’ to find her jewellery for sale at a pawnbroker after police said there was not enough evidence to pursue the case

Angela suspected her cleaner Billi-Jo Pratt (pictured), 27, was behind the theft after noticing pendants, earrings and rings worth £1,825 missing from her rural country farmhouse home. Pratt pleaded guilty to theft from a dwelling after admitting she had stolen the jewellery in April of last year

‘I must have gone to dozens in Broadstairs and Ramsgate before I eventually spotted my yellow and sapphire pendant in the window of a pawnbrokers. I was stunned when I saw it, I couldn’t believe it, I recognised it straight away.

‘So I went in and told them that was mine and it had been stolen.’

READ MORE: Woman who suspected her cleaner of stealing £2,000 worth of jewellery cracks the case herself

 

Staff at Carthew Jewellers Pawnbrokers in Ramsgate confirmed they had CCTV of Pratt selling the stolen items and a triumphant Angela was able to go to police and tell them she had cracked the case.

She said: ‘I didn’t actually see the CCTV but it was obviously conclusive enough as she pleaded guilty and I didn’t have to go to court, a statement was read out on my behalf.’

At a court hearing earlier this month at Margate Magistrates Court Pratt pleaded guilty to theft from a dwelling after admitting she had stolen the jewellery in April of last year.

Before appearing in court Pratt had posted cryptically on her Facebook page: ‘A lesson hurts before it teaches.’

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.

Ian Bond, defending, said she had no previous convictions for dishonesty and regretted her behaviour, which she said was ‘out of character’.

Pratt was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and attend 25 rehabilitation sessions as part of an 18-month community order.

Magistrates also heard how Pratt was in breach of a suspended sentence for a 2021 driving offence and must also pay a victim surcharge of £95 and £85 costs.

Chairman of the bench Diana 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 into consideration.

‘We will not activate the current suspended sentence order as the crime was of a different nature.’

Staff at Carthew Jewellers Pawnbrokers (pictured) in Ramsgate confirmed they had CCTV of Pratt selling the stolen items

Angela said: ‘Maybe I should take up a career in the police, I’ve just done a course in cyber security.

‘I’m happy that I got a result but I’m not happy with the sentence, I think it’s a bit lenient and I still haven’t got my jewellery back.

‘I know it wasn’t hugely expensive but that’s not the point. I keep looking on Facebook to see if I can catch her wearing any of it but I haven’t seen anything.

‘I do actually think the police could have done more because if I hadn’t done what I did the case wouldn’t have been solved.’

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