Cleaner jailed for stealing jewellery from elderly woman in Frodsham
Michelle Black sold stolen rings to a pawnbroker
A woman has been jailed after stealing jewellery from an elderly woman she was employed to clean for in Frodsham.
Michelle Black, of Vine Street in Runcorn, was sentenced to 38 months in prison for theft and fraud by false representation.
The 40-year-old appeared at Chester Crown Court on Thursday 6th August after pleading guilty to the offences.
Black had been hired as a part-time cleaner and helped to clean the home of the victim, a woman in her eighties, in Frodsham.
In March 2025, the victim realised a brown purse was missing.
After she was unable to find it, a full search of the house was carried out, which revealed a significant amount of jewellery was also missing, valued at more than £22,000.
Black was identified as the only person who had been alone with the victim around the time the items were believed to have gone missing.
A report was made to police, who found Black had previous convictions for similar offences.
When she was spoken to, Black admitted stealing some of the jewellery and said she had taken three rings to a pawnbroker.
She initially denied stealing the other items, but admitted the offences when the case reached court.
Around £8,000 worth of the jewellery has since been recovered.
PC Malone said Black had been "entrusted to clean the home of an elderly woman" and instead caused her "an immense amount of stress" by stealing and selling on her belongings.
"This was a complete breach of trust, something which Black already had previous convictions for - she had clearly not learnt her lesson and had no regard for how her selfish actions affected the victim," PC Malone said.
They added they welcomed the custodial sentence, and hoped the victim could be "reassured that she has been brought to justice."