Two thieves caught on security system livestream as they bamboozled and then stole belongings from a vulnerable victim have each been jailed for a year.
Carlisle Crown Court heard Kelly Bonner, 32, and 23-year-old Chelsea Martin entered the woman’s address in Salterbeck in Workington at around 5.30pm on December 4.
The householder, in her 50s, was vulnerable and needed social services support to live independently.
“Her daughter talks about her difficulties meaning that she finds it difficult to say ‘no’ to people and indeed to assess properly who can and who cannot be trusted,” said prosecutor Tim Evans.
Relatives of the woman were so concerned about a friendship with Martin that CCTV was installed and livestreamed to her daughter’s phone.
This captured the December visit of Martin and Bonner, who teamed up and repeatedly selected items at pace which were shown to the householder as they sought to baffle and confuse her in order to steal. Martin had previously been warned not to attend the house.
“This was criminal distraction by sleight of hand and action and words — like the magician seeking to trick the eye and mind away from what was really going on. And this, of course, was a vulnerable woman easily distracted and easily given to trusting,” said Mr Evans.
During an initial visit, Martin and Bonner spent 20 minutes inside, chatting and picking up items.
They left for half an hour before returning with one of the woman’s bags, saying they had brought it back. Her daughter was so concerned by the CCTV live feed that she contacted police who attended and arrested the pair at the scene.
Bonner was seen by officers to take a phone and purse out of her pockets, while Martin was found in possession of a bottle of perfume, a separate phone in her bra, several gold chains, and a purse containing a piece of paper with a phone number on it.
Martin, of Bromley Street, and Bonner, of Harcourt Street, both Workington, admitted theft having initially been charged with burglary.
The court heard Martin was an extremely vulnerable individual who had been homeless at the time of her offence, while Bonner was living an extremely chaotic lifestyle and appeared to be spiralling out of control.
Judge Richard Archer told the women: “This was a particularly mean offence in which you planned to bamboozle, to distract and ultimately to steal from a woman that you knew, each of you, either in advance or very soon upon entering her property, had considerable learning difficulties. Each of you exploited her vulnerability.”
