Jewellery boss took selfies with stolen diamonds

Lucy Roberts stole the jewellery from the store she managed and later sent photographs wearing it to her former colleaguess

A luxury store manager who stole almost £125,000 worth of jewellery was caught after she sent photographs of herself "dripping in diamonds" to her former colleagues, police have said.

Lucy Roberts, of Mill Road, Swanland, East Yorkshire, stole diamonds, silver and gold from a jewellery shop in Beverley that she ran between 1 October 2017 and 27 December 2018.

Humberside Police said she was arrested at Heathrow Airport as she returned from holiday wearing "a substantial amount of stolen jewellery".

The 39-year-old was jailed for 28 months at Grimsby Crown Court on Friday after pleading guilty to theft by an employee at a previous hearing in April.

Staff at the store had questioned why Roberts was taking jewellery home but she had told them not to worry as she was working and sorting stock for the workshop, detectives said.

Following the theft, she quit her job and jetted off on holiday before flashing the stolen goods to staff members and on social media.

Det Sgt Krista Wilkinson said: "Without a care in the world, dripping in diamonds, thinking she had deceived everybody, Roberts arrogantly sent pictures boasting to her ex-colleagues about the great time she was having on holiday, not thinking they would realise what she had been doing.

"From the photos she sent colleagues you could clearly see the high value and unique pieces that she was wearing which she had not purchased whilst working for the store."

Roberts was detained at Heathrow Airport wearing a hoard of stolen jewellery

An investigation was launched after police were contacted by the retailer which had found Roberts had made a number of fraudulent return transactions and falsified stock takes.

During a search of Roberts' house, officers found 269 items with a value of £107,965. When she was arrested, Roberts was wearing a further £1,015 of stolen items and carrying a further £13,880 worth in her suitcase.

Body worn police footage of Roberts' arrest showed her removing the jewellery as she was escorted through the airport in a bid to dispose of it, the force said.

Roberts denied the allegations to police, saying she had borrowed some of the jewellery from a former colleague and claimed they had "planted the rest" in her suitcase.

But she gave no explanation why her own jewellery was mixed with the stolen items, the force added.

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