Friends hatched plot to catch thief red-handed

A woman hid in her friend's room in a supported living facility to catch a cleaner they suspected of stealing cash.

Modesta Kelpsaite, 36, of Century Square, Peterborough, was caught in the act after one of the tenants at the complex in Eaglesthorpe, in the Millfield area of the city, hatched the plan with a friend to catch the culprit.

The victim, in her late 60s, noticed money was missing from her purse on two occasions, and her friend agreed to hide in the room and filmed Kelpsaite entering the apparently empty apartment.

Kelpsaite, who admitted burglary and taking £500, was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence at Peterborough Crown Court on Thursday.

Cambridgeshire Police said the victim had left her flat to run a bingo session in the community lounge on the evening of 21 February last year before returning home and noticing her purse had been moved and cash was missing.

The following week when she got home from bingo, she noticed the same thing, with more money missing.

She and a fellow resident came up with the plan to catch the offender in the act.

Kelpsaite was filmed entering into the room, but when she was confronted by the woman who had been hiding inside, she claimed she had found some keys and was simply trying to return them.

Her sentence was suspended for two years, and she was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and a 20-day rehabilitation activity.

She was also given a five-year criminal behaviour order (CBO), banning her from working in a care home or supported living setting.

Det Con Pete Wise said: "Kelpsaite was in a position of trust and allowed into people's homes to clean while they were there, and had no right entering of her own accord.

"She is now subject of a CBO which, if she breaches it, could result in a prison sentence."

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