Andrew Stothard, 42, of Market Place, Kingston upon Hull went on the run after stealing more than £200,000 worth of jewellery and other valuable items from his employer has been jailed at Swindon Crown Court today for three-and-a-half-years. He had worked as butler, houseman and valet for his employer near Ramsbury, and pleaded guilty to theft, fraud by false representation and money laundering.
On September 13, 2024, three weeks after he was hired by the victims to live and work from their property, Stothard left the property in his employer’s company Mercedes.
The family initially contacted the police fearing for his welfare after he failed to return to the address or to answer his phone.
It was then established that all his belongings, plus several high value items such as jewellery and clothes belonging to the family, were unaccounted for, as well as a credit card belonging to his employer.
The theft was reported to police, and enquiries established that Stothard had travelled to London and then to Hull, using the credit card repeatedly to withdraw thousands of pounds in various currencies and purchase expensive gold and silver coins, before laundering them at different stores.
He also repeatedly converted thousands of dollars and euros into pounds and pawned the stolen items of jewellery at pawnbrokers in London.
Stothard was first arrested on September 17 after handing himself in to the police station in Hull, denying all offences in interview and crafting a web of lies to explain his actions, such as that he was only getting the items valued to create an inventory.
He was bailed and proceeded to pawn further items of jewellery, the money received going into his own account.
Over the next two months, Stothard repeatedly told lies to both the victims and investigating officers, denying any knowledge of the offences. He then changed his story, admitting taking the items and concocting an elaborate story about owing money from a gambling debt.
Stothard was charged with the offences and many of the 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.”
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