Leonard Stanley woman Lily Loveday, 20, spared jail sentence for her role in ‘despicable burglary’ of vulnerable man

A 20-YEAR-OLD Leonard Stanley woman was today handed a suspended jail sentence for her part in defrauding a vulnerable man she used to work for.

Lily Loveday was also before Gloucester Crown Court for an unrelated offence of affray when she was involved in a fight with another young woman on the village green in Leonard Stanley in April 2016.

Sentencing her for both offences, assistant judge advocate General Alistair McGrigor said that Loveday had been a housekeeper for John Bradford, and was trusted by him, but she abused that trust by helping her boyfriend Thomas Archer to burgle him.

Archer, 22, made use of his 'inside knowledge' of 60 year old Mr Bradford's house to commit the burglary as a result of his girlfriend, Loveday, having done some work for him, the court was told.

Archer, of no fixed address, once went to Mr Bradford's home with Loveday and had been given some sandwiches, said prosecutor Richard Treharne at his sentencing hearing back in January of this year.

Archer repaid the kindness in a 'despicable' way on the night of 22 August 2016 by opening a key box on the outside wall of Mr Bradford's accommodation and letting himself in, the prosecutor said.

He took Mr Bradford's iPhone, laptop, two iPads, a bank card, three watches and his car keys.

Archer then used the bank card to obtain £1,250 from a cashpoint and £49 worth of goods from a garage because he had been given the PIN by Loveday.

At the January hearing Archer pleaded guilty to burglary and two offences of fraud and was jailed for a total of 2 years four months.

"This was a particularly despicable burglary," said the judge. "It is one which, I am sure you realise, even many criminals would not have stooped to.

"You knew Mr Bradford was a 60 year old disabled multiple sclerosis sufferer with very limited mobility. You took his car keys so he couldn't use it. It had to be damaged in order to get into it again.

"He was dependent on medication but you took his iPad on which he had all the details of that medication. He was someone very vulnerable in his house and you took away his sense of safety. He had a mobile phone for emergencies and you took that as well.

"When you went into his home as a burglar at dead of night you had a profound effect on his life. You may have thought your own life has not been easy but his, latterly, has been a lot harder and you made it worse.

"You knew exactly who you were burgling. You had met him and had eaten his sandwiches in his home not long before.

"None of the usual common decency came into play when you decided to burgle him in your hunt for money for your drug addiction."

In a victim impact statement Mr Bradford said he had been unable to sleep properly since the raid.

He said he felt bitterly disappointed in Loveday, who he had thought was a 'lovely girl' until he realised how his trust had been abused.

Sentencing Loveday today, the judge imposed 10 months custody suspended for 12 months with requirements of Drug Rehabilitation for six months and an electronically monitored curfew for two months.

The Court heard from Joe Maloney, representing Loveday, that "she had come under the malign influence of Archer. She is very disappointed in herself. She has not been in trouble since and is making huge steps.

"There has been a sea change since Archer went to prison."

The affray also involved Thomas Archer, although the court were told that he was just one of a group of men "goading" the young women into fighting each other.

The court heard that there had been an unpleasant exchange of messages on Facebook between Loveday and the other woman in the build up to incident on April 17 last year.

The other woman was left with a bite mark on a finger and large bruise on her cheek.

Passing sentence the Judge said that he was giving her "a chance to pick herself up."