Burgling cleaner gets caught robbing from supported living flat

Watch the shocking moment (click to play above) when a cleaner got caught stealing from a vulnerable woman living in a supported living flat.

Modesta Kelpsaite (36) was caught in the act after one of the tenants at the complex hatched a plan with a friend to catch the person stealing cash from her purse.

The victim, who is in her late 60s, had left her flat to run a bingo session in the community lounge on the evening of February 21 last year, when she returned home to notice her purse had moved from under her coffee table and cash was missing.

The following week when she came home from the bingo, she noticed the same thing – with even more money missing.

She told a fellow resident, and they came up with a plan to catch the offender in the act.

The victim would go to the bingo as normal the following week, while her friend would hide inside the flat.

The following Thursday, the friend was hiding in the flat at about 7pm when she heard someone enter and start rummaging around the living room table.

She started filming on her mobile phone and confronted Kelpsaite, who claimed she was trying to return some keys to the tenant.

Kelpsaite, was arrested at her home in Century Square, Millfield, Peterborough, on April 16 last year and interviewed.

She claimed she was cleaning in the communal stairway when she knocked over a plant pot and some keys had fallen out.

She used them to try the door of the nearby flat, with the intention of returning them to the owner, when she was confronted by the woman inside.

Kelpsaite was released on bail while further enquiries were carried out, but later charged with dwelling burglary, including theft of £500 in cash, which she admitted in court.

She appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on May 1 where she was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, and must complete 100 hours of unpaid work and a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

She was also given a five-year criminal behaviour order (CBO) banning her from working in a care home or supported living setting.

Detective Constable Pete Wise, who investigated, said: “Burglary is an incredibly intrusive crime – Kelpsaite was in a position of trust and allowed into people’s homes to clean while they were there, and had no right entering of her own accord.

“She is now subject of a CBO which, if she breaches it, could result in a prison sentence.”