A Heathrow Airport baggage handler who stole £29,000 worth of jewellery from a lost suitcase has been spared jail.
Priti Sthankiya wheeled away the bag from Terminal 2 and hid under a carousel before pulling out a string of luxury items on January 20 last year, the Old Bailey heard last week.
Among the items were designer handbags containing £500 in cash, Ray-Ban sunglasses, a designer watch, a MacBook and a diamond ring.
The victim, Sandhya Gunesh, and her partner had just landed after a holiday in Mauritius and were feeling tired and ill when they forgot to put their hand luggage on a trolley before leaving the airport.
After realising their mistake, Gunesh tracked her MacBook to the airport and made multiple trips to ask if her missing items had been handed in.
But when Heathrow staff repeatedly told them the luggage was still missing, she called the police, who looked at CCTV which showed Sthankiya sneaking off with the suitcase.
The 46-year-old was arrested at her home on Hatton Road, Wembley, on January 24, where she claimed the jewellery was hers, and, having removed the suitcase tag, pretended the bag was hers.
After a search of her home and work locker, to which she directed police, most of the items were found.
But around £4,000 of items remain missing – including the £3,000 diamond ring, £500 in cash and designer sunglasses.
After admitting the theft, Sthankiya told police she was ‘going through a difficult time’, prosecutor Ryan Evans told the court.
Recorder Ian Stern KC said: ‘She has direct responsibility for baggage. That’s what she is there for. It could not be a higher breach of trust, could it?’
Her lawyer claimed that Sthankiya – who worked in the role for eight years before she was sacked – was ‘extraordinarily’ distressed due to a divorce.
She had accrued significant debts but was ‘hard-working’ and ‘a lady of integrity’.
Sthankiya had initially told police she had ‘not intended’ to steal the bag, because ‘she believed it was her own’ before backtracking on her story.
Whitley added: ‘She is deeply ashamed to be here before the court.’
The judge agreed the defendant had shown remorse as he decided the case deserved a suspended prison term.
Recorder Stern said: ‘It appears you have had a difficult, not to say torrid, time over the last few years.’
Sthankiya was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and must complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a six-month mental health treatment requirement.
She was not ordered to pay costs or compensation.
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