A sneak burglar who stole two gold bangles worth £10,000 from a woman who had employed him to carry out odd-jobs around her home has walked free from court.

Wayne Elgey stolen the wedding gifts while working for the victim before they were sold to a pawn broker and smelted, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 54-year-old’s crime went unnoticed for couple of weeks until the woman could not find her bracelets and challenged Elgey about their theft from her Stockton home.

Emma Atkinson, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was a family friend, she knew him through her brother who was his landlord. She often paid him to do odd jobs around the house and in February 2021 she employed him to do some work in the attic.

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“He was taking his time and she shouted up the stairs to find out what he was doing and he said he was on the phone to his girlfriend who was in prison.”

The court heard it was on March 1, 2021, when she realised that the bangles were missing and after searching the entire house, she called Elgey and asked to pop round.

Miss Atkinson added: “When he arrived, she asked him about the bangles, he first denied knowing anything about them but then said he had taken them and given them to someone else.”

The judge heard how a woman had sold the gold at a pawn broker for £2,035 and the bangles were then sent off to smelted.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said he had been left really upset by the theft because the bangles were a wedding gift of great sentimental value.

Elgey, of Waverley Street, Stockton, pleaded guilty to committing the burglary between February 1 and 14, 2021, when he appeared at magistrates’ court.

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Paul Green, mitigating, his client had struggled with drug addiction for a number of years and at the time the burglary had turned to taking illicit tablets following the death of his brother.

He added: “He is ashamed of his behaviour and expresses remorse for it.”

Recorder Robert Ward sentenced Elgey to 20 months in custody, suspended for 18 months.

He was also issued with drug rehabilitation requirement order and told to pay £240 in compensation to the victim.