A Heathrow Airport cleaner has been sentenced to three months of community service after stealing £2,643 worth of National Lottery scratchcards while cleaning a WHSmith store.
Tracey Flitton, 40, stole the scratchcards at five separate occasions during her late-night shifts at the store’s Terminal 4 branch between January and February, when she was reportedly working for cleaning subcontractor Turquoise.
According to The Evening Standard, Flitton won £675 from the cards but was sentenced to a three-month community order at Isleworth crown court. The 40-year-old also faces a weekend night-time curfew.
Flitton, a Jamaican-born single mother from Thamesmead, was caught on CCTV pocketing scratchcards when the store was empty. During one incident, Flitton was even shown trying to cover her face with a scarf to hide her identity.
Prosecutor Fiona Willis told the court that Flitton had abused trust and targeted the store in the middle of the night, saying: “The CCTV showed a cleaner removing large quantities of scratchcards from the display in the early hours of the morning and the company she worked for identified her.
“On the first CCTV clip she is seen sweeping the floor at 2:37 am and going behind the counter while still holding her broom and taking scratchcards from the display and putting them into a small bag.”
Describing another theft, Willis said: “She is seen wearing a blue scarf, and after taking more scratchcards at 1:52 am she removes the scarf, revealing her face.”
According to reports, WHSmith launched an internal investigation after realising that the scratchcards were going missing on February 8.
When questioned by police, Flitton blamed the thefts on the pressure of caring for her 15-year-old daughter. She has now admitted to five counts of theft as well as a charge of acquiring criminal property.
