Cleaner stole from hotel

AN employee of a prestigious Warrington hotel stole more than £5,000 worth of goods from guests’ bedrooms while carrying out house-keeping duties.
Justin Roue, 35, from Fir Tree Avenue, Burtonwood, took a total of 18 items worth £5,446, including a guest’s lap top, from rooms at the Daresbury Park Hotel.
He pleaded guilty at Warrington Crown Court to theft and was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years by Judge Stephen Clarke.
Roue wept in the dock as Judge Clarke also ordered him to complete 100 hours unpaid work.
Richard Sealy prosecuting told the court how a customer at the hotel had left a lap top in her room during her stay, but the hotel had no record of one being found by Roue, who dealt with housekeeping for the room immediately after her stay.
He added that when police searched his home address, they discovered the lap top along with 17 other items, which Roue admitted had been stolen.
David Rose defending said that Roue had been in financial difficulties and had taken the items to sell on for profit.
Mr Rose added that at the time when police discovered the items, Roue was going through divorce proceedings, which put him under strain, and that he now had joint custody of his children, one of who of whom has an illness that required a lot of supervision.
Judge Clarke told the defendant: “Your life has come tumbling down around you. You have responsibilities to your children and impacting on their welfare is not right. There is no harm on occasions with compassion being given by a court.”