Mother keeps job at Birmingham Airport despite thefts

Sunitta Kholsa had been trusted to look after the home of Sarita Bhalla when she committed the thefts, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The 59-year-old mother of three had a key to her neighbour’s home and knew the burglar alarm code when asked to keep watch over the property again while Ms Bhalla took an eight day break.

But the horrified occupant returned from holiday on October 14 to find that up to £7,200 worth of her possessions were missing, explained Mr Omar Majid, prosecuting.

The haul included clothes, jewellery, perfume and religious idols, much of which was of ‘considerable’ sentimental, as well as monetary, value, the court heard.

Police were alerted and officers called at the home of Kholsa in Skip Lane, Walsall nine days later.

However she was out and they left a message asking her to contact them, which she did not, continued the prosecutor.

A short time later she called on Ms Bhalla under the guise of returning a jet washer she had borrowed almost 12 months earlier and asked to use the toilet during the visit. She returned clutching a purse containing some of the stolen items which she claimed to have found among a pile of other property in the utility room, the court was told.

The defendant also insisted she had been given the missing religious idols to polish, suggesting her ‘friend’ was forgetful while maintaining she had not taken anything

But this was just an elaborate cover up by a woman who panicked after reading the note left at her home by the police, it was said.

She was arrested on October 30, 2016 and inquiries suggested the religious idols were taken by her a month before the other goods. Last month she was convicted of theft from the house on two separate occasions and had been remanded on bail for the preparation of pre-sentence reports.

Mr Benjamin Douglas-Jones, defending, suggested the crime had been a ‘cry for help’ when Kholsa was depressed after several sad events in her life.

Her employers were aware of the conviction but held her in such high esteem she had been allowed to keep the job and was being considered for promotion, he added.

Shock

The court also heard how Kholsa had looked after her friend’s home a number of times before without stealing anything.

Judge Barry Berlin told the defendant, who had no previous convictions, that she had committed a ‘gross breach of trust’ but explained she could avoid being sent straight to prison because of her ‘positively good character.’

Kholsa was given a 16 month jail term suspended for two years with 180 hours of unpaid work.

She was also ordered to pay £3,000 compensation and £3,000 costs.

Ms Bhalla, whose insurance claim was rejected because she had given the culprit a key to her home, said in a statement: “I have suffered a financial loss but the emotional loss is far greater.

“I am in complete shock. It I can’t trust her, I can’t trust anybody.”