Man who stole £200k worth of jewellery from Wiltshire boss jailed
Andrew Stothard fled his job just three weeks after being hired
A man who fled his job in Wiltshire and stole more than 200-thousand pounds worth of jewellery from his boss is starting a 3 and a half year jail sentence.
Andrew Stothard, 42, of Market Place in Kingston upon Hull, had been working as a butler, houseman and valet near Ramsbury.
He admitted to theft, fraud by false representation and money laundering.
On 13th September 2024, Stothard vanished from his job just three weeks after being hired to work and live at his employers property.
Stothard fled in his employers company Mercedes, taking all his belongings and a number of high value items such as jewellery and clothes belonging to the family and a credit card belonging to his employer.
The family contacted police fearing for his welfare, before realising the items were unaccounted for, with the theft then reported to officers.
It became apparent that Stothard had travelled to London, where he pawned the jewellery he had stolen, and then travelled to Hull.
On the way, he'd repeatedly used the credit card to withdraw thousands of pounds in various currencies and to buy expensive gold and silver coins, which he laundered at different stores.
Stothard was arrested in on September 17th after handing himself in to Police in Hull - where he denied the allegations as he lied in explaining his action, claiming he'd been getting the items valued for an inventory.
He was bailed.
Over the next two months, he pawned more jewellery, with the cash going into his own account, as he continued to lie to the victims and police, denying any knowledge of the offences.
He then changed his story, admitting to taking the items, insisting it was all to pay off a gambling debt.
Many of the pawned items were recovered from pawnbrokers in London and Hull.
Investigating officer DC Lawrence Gurney of Wiltshire Police CID said: “The victims were local business owners – they were targeted by Mr Stothard for their wealth and generosity.
“They provided him with steadfast employment, accommodation, and other benefits. They placed a significant amount of trust in him, and he abused this trust in a dishonest and calculated manner.
“He took advantage of his position to gain access to private areas of the house without the victim’s knowledge or consent and proceeded to go on the run with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of items, many of which held significant sentimental value.
“Whilst doing this, he sought to maintain contact with the victims in a manipulative attempt to appeal to their decent nature and assure them that nothing was wrong.
“The array of fabricated stories he produced allowed him more time to spend money on company credit cards, conceal the stolen items and also sell them on. This in turn had wider ramifications for other business, nationwide, who are now suffering a loss because of Mr Stothard’s actions.
“Hopefully, this result will provide some satisfaction and sense of justice for all those impacted by Mr Stothard’s crimes. Wiltshire Police will continue in our efforts to recover the remaining items and have already sought to restrain Mr Stothard’s assets for the purpose of compensation.”