Crime DOES pay

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

A former bank manager who admitted stealing nearly £1m from her branch has walked free from court.

 

Ania Wadsworth took £912,716.95 in cash from the Golders Green branch of Lloyds TSB between 2002 and 2007 but said she was forced to by her drug addict boyfriend.

 

She was acquitted after none of the missing money was traced to her bank account.

 

During the period, the 28-year-old was constantly in debt and had taken out loans of £7,000 on two occasions.

 

Her former boyfriend, Keith "Junior" Preddie, was found guilty of laundering £145,370.

 

At the time, he had a £500-a-day drug habit, and also spent the money on expensive cars, holidays and at least £20,000 on a failed music business.

 

Ms Wadsworth, as manager of the branch, was trusted to load cash machines, and regularly walked out of work with bundles of stolen money.

 

She was finally arrested, following a nationwide audit, coming off a plane at Gatwick Airport, an event which gave her "a sense of relief".

 

Ms Wadsworth told the court she lived in fear of Preddie and was scared he would kill her if she did not bring the money home for him.

 

"If I came home without it, I would get hurt. I would die.

 

"He would beat me up and if I didn't bring it, that would be the end of it."

 

The Old Bailey also heard that after the pair split up in 2004, Preddie forced her to steal larger amounts to "pay him off", so he would not reveal what she had been doing.

 

on't blag

 

on the blag 2

 

 

IS NOTHING sacred? It seems some light-fingered business-class traveller has been causing havoc in the skies between Japan and France. Gulliver is far from first with this news, but still wants to share the story of the terrible crimes committed aboard an Air France flight from Tokyo to Paris a week ago.

 

Five business-class travellers say their pockets were picked while they slept, to the tune of €4,000 ($5,760). One lady alone lost €3,000 from her bag.

 

An official from Air France said that while the company was responsible for baggage in the hold, it was up to the passengers to look after valuable items they bring onto the plane. And a spokeswoman told Bloomberg that "Cabin crew are not mandated to query passengers on which bags they are opening or if they are the rightful owners of belongings taken onboard".

 

I suspect we should file this theft under "rare, unfortunate and not requiring of any huge response". Though it will be interesting to see if the growing bundles of expensive gadgetry encourage more such crime, the onus is indeed on passengers to hold on tight to their belongings. Flight attendants have other things to worry about than who's opening what bag during a long trip. Yes, it will be of concern to some passengers falling asleep that their $2,000 laptop could be swiped from an overhead compartment. But a plane is a confined space full of strangers, so travellers should take some basic precautions. Hold it, sit on it, put it down your trousers. And try not to leave €3,000 in your bag.