Pair sentenced for staging armed robbery in Congleton
Patricia Marlborough and Kristian Bramah were sentenced at Chester Crown Court
Two people have avoided immediate jail after admitting they staged a fake armed robbery at a health food store in Congleton.
Patricia Marlborough, 28, and Kristian Bramah, 29, were sentenced at Chester Crown Court after a police investigation revealed they had planned the crime together.
Marlborough, of Hough Lane in Hyde, told officers she was working alone at Holland and Barrett on High Street in August 2021 when a man threatened her with a knife, tied her hands with cable ties and escaped with nearly eight thousand pounds in cash.
She later submitted a compensation claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
But detectives later discovered she had been in a relationship with Bramah at the time, and that he was the so-called robber.
DNA from the cable ties, along with phone and number plate recognition evidence, placed him in the area.
Marlborough has been given a two-year prison term suspended for two years, along with 250 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation order.
She admitted conspiracy to steal, perverting the course of justice and fraud.
Bramah, of Plane Court, Salford, received a sixteen-month sentence suspended for two years, plus rehabilitation days, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal and carrying a knife in public.
Detective Constable Sarah Sayer from Cheshire Police said the pair had “carefully planned the robbery with the intent of making as much money as possible”, adding their actions wasted “a significant amount of valuable police time and resources”.