Video: Suspicious dad Brendan Mudd hides in cupboard to catch thief Kayleigh in Maidstone
Video: Brendan Mudd
caught Kayleigh Spinks in the act
by Andy Gray
This is the moment a carer was caught stealing from a
Maidstone family in a You've Been Framed-style sting.
After suspecting Kayleigh Spinks, who was employed to look after
their disabled son, was helping herself to their cash, Mandy Holden
and partner Brendan Mudd decided to catch her in the act.
Mr Mudd hid in a wardrobe at the couple's Plains Avenue home
with a video camera and waited for the thief to make her move.
Thinking the owners had left the house
22-year-old Spinks (pictured left) can be heard on camera
creeping up the stairs.
In full glare of Mr Mudd’s unforgiving lens, she is seen
foraging under the couple’s bed for money they had saved to buy a
van to help transport Joe, a severe cerebral palsy sufferer.
To her horror, Mr Mudd emerges from the cupboard and tells
Spinks she has been caught "red-handed" and calls the police.
Spinks immediately apologises and admits to stealing £100. She
later admitted the theft in court.
Mr Mudd, 46, who owns Inkfish tattoo studio in Church Street,
Maidstone, said: "I feel violated in my own home.
"To put trust in people and for them to blatantly steal from you
is disgusting."
Spinks, of Wrangleden Road, Maidstone, was employed by Allied
Healthcare to feed and look after Joe three times a week while the
couple were at work.
Miss Holden said she had been suspicious for a while, but it was
not until money went missing in October that the plan was
hatched.
On the day of the sting, Miss Holden continued her usual routine
of letting Spinks into the house and leaving her to care for Joe –
only this time Mr Mudd was hiding behind a curtain- covered
cupboard upstairs waiting to pounce.
Miss Holden, 46, who works at her partner's other studio in
Middle Row, Maidstone, said: "I have to be able to trust people to
come into my house and look after Joe, but I’m not sure who to
trust now. Even now I’m angered by the thought of someone going
through my stuff."
Mandy Holden and disabled
son Joe Ware, of Plains Avenue, Maidstone
Spinks, who has a young daughter, admitted attempted theft and
two counts of theft when she appeared before Maidstone magistrates
last month.
She was ordered to do 60 hours of unpaid work and pay £250
compensation.
Allied Healthcare confirmed Kayleigh Spinks was immediately
suspended following her arrest and had not worked for the company
since.
An Allied Healthcare spokesman said: "The protection of our
customers is paramount and we have worked very closely with police
on this matter."
14/12/12
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