Handbag thief who stole designer accessories worth £200,000 jailed for 18 months
A HANDBAG thief who stole £200,000 worth of designer accessories in a three-year crime spree has been jailed for 18 months today.
Mother-of-two Jayne Rand, 48, stole expensive Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and Radley handbags and purses often from House of Fraser stores across the UK.
The housewife from Swindon would walk into a retailer without a handbag and then after removing the security tag would walk away with a stolen accessory.
The woman from Swindon carried out her criminal activity without her husband or children knowing and was caught be a security guard in Wales last December.
She was sentenced at Newport Crown Court who previously heard Rand had stolen 905 designer handbags and purses worth around £135,000 wholesale.
You made a business of stealing, you must take the consequences
Their combined retail value would have been about £200,000 after stores added their own profit percentage to the price.
Judge Rhys Rowlands said: "You made a business of stealing, you must take the consequences."
Rand's three-year crime spree saw her steal from shopping centres in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool from December 2009 to December 2012.
She was caught with two expensive designer handbags in her car after being arrested in Cwmbran last year.
When officers searched her home they found at least another 50 largely from luxury designer Radley.
CCTV footage examined by police later revealed the full extent of stores she had targeted.
She made £88,000 by selling the stolen goods on eBay for around half their normal price to eager buyers.
Rand admitted converting criminal assets from 838 handbags.
Police are examining her existing assets to ensure she does not benefit from the stolen goods when she is released from court.
David Wooler, Crown Advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service Wales, said: "Jayne Rand is an unusually prolific shoplifter, responsible for a very large number of thefts from stores around the country over a prolonged period.
"She was finally brought to justice thanks to eagle-eyed staff at the House of Fraser store in Cwmbran. When police searched her car and home, the scale of her criminal activities quickly became clear.
"Through proceeds of crime legislation, we are now actively seeking to ensure that Jayne Rand is not able to retain any financial benefit from her criminality."