Couple who stole from London gym's lockers amounting to £250k to fund lavish lifestyles sentenced

A couple who went around gyms in London and stole up to £250,000 in a year to fund their lavish lifestyles have been sentenced. Ashley Singh, 39 and Sophie Bruyea (20) would visit gyms around the city and while their victims were exercising, Singh would rifle through their lockers, stealing bank and SIM cards.

The pair would then max out their victims' credit cards on expensive tech and designer gear, before selling them on and using the cash to buy bags, shoes, holidays, and a pedigree puppy, leaving their victims in huge stress and financial loss.

Following extensive investigations by the Metropolitan Police that traced their phones, cars, and faces on CCTV, the pair was finally arrested at Gatwick Airport on January 27, 2023 as they returned from Paris with 2,000 Euros worth of designer goods.

Singh and Bruyea, of Widmore Road, Bromley, were sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on Wednesday, January 10, to conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation between January 2022 and January 2023 with a total value of £250,000. There were 18 fraud reports in total, with 14 in the Met area, one from Sussex, one from Hertfordshire and two reports from Cambridgeshire.

Singh was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment while Bruyea, 20, was sentenced to 20 months at a young offenders’ institute, suspended for two years, a rehabilitation programme and 120 hours unpaid work.

Branding the sentencing a "wicked conspiracy", the judge also described the impact the pair’s “wide-ranging spree” had had on people, including instances where people no longer felt safe around strangers, or had suffered professionally due to the stress.