The thief next door: How mum-of-two posed as ordinary housewife living in quiet suburban road... while running £100k raid under the noses of her police officer neighbours

Daily Mail​

5 days ago

On the surface, she looks like any ordinary middle-aged mum.
Living on a quiet cul-de-sac with her childhood sweetheart and two dogs, 55-year-old Jacqueline Fletcher is not who comes to mind when you picture your typical conniving fraudster.
The mother-of-two was born and bred in the rural village of Brinsworth, Rotherham, and raised her daughters from the very same semi-detached dwelling she and her husband still reside in now.
And despite living on the quiet street for over three decades - where the 'only thing you hear is a car door slamming' - neighbours say she 'kept to herself' and never struck them as having led a particularly luxurious lifestyle.
So it came as an utter surprise to residents when it transpired that Fletcher had all along been running a £100k raid under their noses - with even her police neighbour being ignorant to her elaborate scheme.
And to make matters even more shocking, the brazen criminal carried out her theft in plain sight at a police station.
Despite being jailed for more than two years for the crime, the mother-of-two now faces more jail time if she does not cough up more than £100,000 in three months.
Fletcher had been a South Yorkshire Police employee at the time and had stolen £98,500 while working at Attercliffe Police Station in Sheffield.
In 2013, a large quantity of cash was seized as part of a police investigation and placed into the station's property store.
Fletcher had been working as a team leader at the store and as part of her role was responsible for managing cash.
Pictured: Fletcher's semi-detached house in the village of Brinsworth, Rotherham. A flower vase can be spotted in the window. The 55-year-old now has to pay up £108,000 for her crimes or risks facing another 12-month jail sentence
She informed the officer in charge of the investigation that she had counted and banked the seized money in the force's account, but never did.
Instead, she only put £1,500 into the force account and banked a staggering £98,500 into her own bank account.
She then continued to work at the station with her crime going unnoticed, and subsequently left the force in 2015.
It was only in 2017, when a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) investigation connected to the seized money was requested, that it was noticed the cash was missing.
An investigation was launched and in 2018 the mother-of-two was sentenced to two years and eight months after admitting to four counts of theft.
She was also handed a confiscation order instructing her to pay back £47,000 under the POCA.
But now, following a reconsideration of the original 2018 order by the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Crime Unit (YHROCU), Fletcher has been ordered to pay back an additional £108,256.86.
It comes after the YHROCU's Asset Confiscation Enforcement team reviewed and identified new assets and pursued outstanding orders.
The unassuming mum now faces a 12-month prison sentence if she does not pay the additional order in three months.
MailOnline visited the sleepy street where the woman lives.
One neighbour said: 'She has two daughters. They are grown up.
'You just see her sometimes get into her car.
'Since she came back [from prison], she keeps herself to herself.
'They have got two dogs. I have seen her husband walking the dogs, but you never see her out walking.
'Her husband went to school with my son. I think her and her husband were going out together from school so they have always been together.
'It is very quiet around here. They have lived here a lot of years so we could not believe it - fancy robbing from the police.'
The couple are understood to have two adult daughters who both live away from home.
A vase of flowers sits in the front window of Fletcher's modest dwelling on the cul-de-sac.
In the driveway is parked a 2018 model Mazda and 2016 Toyota hatchback.
Neighbours say she has kept a low profile since her arrest.
Another resident added: 'We have been here 32 years and had to wait for the builders to finish the house so they have lived here for many years.
'I think she was born and bred around here. It is not a big place. This street is a quiet place all the time. The only thing you ever heard is a car door slamming.
'You never see her and no one really talks about what happened.
'Her husband is really quiet. My partner give him a lift one and he never spoke all the way back. He doesn't talk to anyone.'
Detective Superintendent James Axe, head of our Professional Standards Department, said: 'We expect all of our employees to behave professionally, honestly and with integrity. Fletcher showed none of these traits, behaving disgracefully and abusing the trust placed in her.
'The vital work carried out the YHROCU's ACE team has ensured that more of the money Fletcher stole will be recovered. The money secured through confiscation order helps fund community grant schemes and officer training allowing us to give back to our communities, as well as ensuring Fletcher does not continue to benefit from her offending.'
Ramona Senior, head of operations at the YHROCU said: 'Our dedicated ACE team proactively reviews opportunities to revisit confiscation orders made under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
'We will relentlessly pursue outstanding unpaid orders and identify where new assets have been acquired that can be subject to confiscation, no matter who has acquired them. We also look at increasing the amount available for recovery if a criminal's circumstances have changed since the original confiscation order.
'The ACE team has recovered more than £10.3 million in criminal assets on behalf of our region's four police forces over the past two years.'