Jeweller faces jail for thefts

THE manageress of an Ipswich jewellers has been warned that she is likely to face a prison sentence after being found guilty of stealing more than £3,000 from her employers.

Alison Lock had denied 30 offences of theft of sums ranging from £56 to £469 during a three-month period after she became manageress of the Warren James store in Tower Ramparts in August 2004.

A jury at Ipswich Crown Court found her guilty of 28 of the offences and not guilty of one of the offences. The jury was directed by Recorder Guy Ayers to return a not guilty verdict on the remaining charge.

Adjourning sentence until next month for a pre-sentence report, Recorder Ayers warned Lock that she would almost inevitably receive an immediate prison sentence because of the level of the thefts and the breach of trust involved.

During the trial it was alleged that 33-year-old Lock had falsified customer returns and then taken money for refunds from the till which she kept for herself.

Giving evidence during the trial, Lock, of Kildare Avenue, Ipswich denied acting dishonestly.

She had argued how the store was constantly watched by CCTV monitors and the till was connected by modem to the head office in Norwich.

She said cameras were pointed at the till, the shop floor, the safe room and the entrance of the shop. Lock added that any transaction made on the till was sent straight to the head office and staff there would be able to tell if any faulty goods had been returned for cash.

The court heard that on 30 occasions returns forms had been filled out when faulty jewellery had been returned for cash.

However, when the matter was investigated the returned jewellery could not be traced and the names and addressed on the forms were false.

Lock admitted that on one occasion she had falsely signed a returns document to counteract an error made by another member of staff but this had not resulted in any loss of money or good to the shop.