An employee stole £17,000 from her work safe after she
disguised herself in a burqa - but was caught by police when she fled in a taxi
booked on her own phone.
Officers were able to track down Krystal Kerr and found most
of the cash she had taken in her bedroom in Birmingham.
The 28-year-old - who had planned to use the money for a
holiday in Jamaica - had even left some of the cash in taxi.
Kerr, of The Ridings, Stechford, was jailed for 12 months
after previously admitting theft.
The worker arrived at Fun Station in Star City on July 20
last year just as security staff were locking and securing the premises.
Dressed in a burka, she walked past the two men and used a
key she had previously stolen to get into a store room.
After disabling the alarm she went to the safe and removed
£17,344 before returning to a taxi that was waiting for her.
She was dropped off in Erdington and then took a bus to her
home in Stechford.
Emma Rutherford, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said
the theft was discovered the next day and that the taxi the defendant had used
was identified from CCTV footage.
Just nine days later officers went to her home and within an
hour discovered a bag containing £15,500 under floorboards in her bedroom.
When quizzed, Kerr said after returning home she had gone to
her local park and burnt the burqa and a bag which had contained the money.
She said she had stolen the cash to flee from an abusive
boyfriend.
James Frarczyk, defending, said: 'The whole thing was
essentially bungled from the outset.
'She rang for the taxi using her own mobile phone and used a
surname that was not a million miles away from her own.
She wore a burka while walking past colleagues and became
hysterical when police searched that room.
'She embarked on a desperate sequence of events and planned
to spend her ill gotten gains on taking her children back to Jamaica but never
had the courage to go through with that.
Mr Frarczyk said of the money that had not been recovered
she spent £366 on rent and believed the rest may have been left in the taxi.
He added that she had been assaulted and bullied by her ex
partner who wanted her to return to him.
Miss Recorder Malcolm QC said: 'This was theft in breach of
a substantial amount of trust your employer repose in you. You took a large sum
of money.
'It was planned very carefully not only in terms of gaining
access to the premises but also gaining access to the safe.
Afterwards Paul Reid, District Crown Prosecutor from West
Midlands Crown Prosecution, said: 'This was a pre-planned and well executed
burglary committed by an employee who had breached her employer's trust.
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