A CLEANER stole heirlooms and engagement and wedding rings from her employer’s house, a court heard.

For weeks, Kerry Ann Moynihan used her access to the family home to steal a series of items, mainly of sentimental or emotional value, York Crown Court heard.

They included £20 sent to a new-born baby.

Moynihan was due to be sentenced but her solicitor advocate Graham Parkin said she had a confirmed appointment for a pre-operation visit to hospital for the next day and doctors expected to give her replacement surgery within two weeks. She had been waiting a long time for the surgery, he said.

“It is not possible to sentence you today,” the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told Moynihan. “We will have to see if you are properly fit by June 19.”

He adjourned sentence until then and released her on bail.

Moynihan, 46, of Butcher Terrace, South Bank, York, who has previous convictions for theft and benefit fraud, pleaded guilty to theft on the basis she only took a gold watch that was found at her house. But after hearing evidence magistrates rejected her account and convicted her of stealing all the items.

Brooke Morrison, prosecuting, said the watch had belonged to the grandmother of Moynihan’s employer. The Clifton householder engaged Moynihan through a cleaning company on February 16, 2022, but then Moynihan persuaded the householder to employ her directly. She worked for three hours every Thursday at the house and at times, she was left alone in it.

Between February 17 and April 24, 2022, the 48-year-old cleaner stole a series of items, including a £1,600 engagement ring, a £1,900 wedding ring, a gold chain necklace worth £500, £20 which had been included in a greetings card for a newly born child, the baby’s first hat, food items and the gold watch.

Then the house-owner realised what was going on and police were called.

They searched Moynihan’s home and found the watch, which Moynihan falsely claimed she had bought in a car boot sale many years earlier and didn’t wear because it was too small.

She denied stealing anything.

Ms Morrison said Moynihan had 22 previous convictions, including for shoplifting and for benefit fraud in 2013 and 2015.

Moynihan had breached the trust placed in her by the employer allowing her access to the house, the court heard. National sentencing guidelines said she should be jailed for between six months and two years.

The family had lost out because although they had insurance, the insurance company had refused to pay out for the thefts.

Ms Morrison said she didn’t know why the insurance company had not paid out, but suggested it could be because Moynihan had been employed directly by the householder.