LARA JONES RECEIVES THREE-YEAR SENTENCE FOR BURGLARY

Guildford Crown Court sentenced carer Lara Jones to three years in prison on 9 October after finding her guilty of burglary. Hidden cameras recorded Jones searching the bedroom of an elderly man in Oxted, Surrey, whom she cared for. The footage showed her going through drawers and cupboards before taking jewellery worth £8,000. Jones, of Cowden Pound Road in Mark Beech, Kent, denied the allegation. The court also ordered her to pay a £228 victim surcharge.

The man’s family noticed that jewellery was missing after Jones’s first shift at his home. They found an earring at the top of the stairs and discovered that other items were missing when they tried to return it to its box. The family suspected Jones but could not be certain, so they installed hidden cameras in the bedroom. The cameras recorded Jones taking jewellery during her second shift on 26 November 2025.

On 3 December, the man’s daughter called police after viewing footage of Jones searching his bedroom while he was alone with her at home. Officers went to the property, arrested Jones on suspicion of burglary and found the missing jewellery when they searched her. The family said: “Having someone violate your trust in your own home, at a time when you are at your most vulnerable, is devastating.” They said the theft had made an already difficult situation harder.