Rathbones sentenced for string of thefts

01/10/2007

Today at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court Charles Rathbone, 61 was sentenced to a total of 14 months imprisonment and ordered to pay £62,387 compensation to Blurton Transport Services Ltd for his part in numerous counts of theft and other related offences

Angela Rathbone,53, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and both were ordered to pay £5,000 costs.
Olwyn Jones, 55, sister of Angela was given 180 hours community punishment for her involvement.

Charles Rathbone and his wife Angela worked for Blurton Transport Services Ltd between January 1997 and November 2005 and stole large quantities of money from their employer. At their trial in July they were found guilty of 28 and 24 counts respectively.

Olwyn Jones, 55, sister of Angela was also found guilty of assisting in the retention of or control of the proceeds of criminal conduct.

Speaking after todays sentence, Nick Price, Unit Head for the Crown Prosecution Service said: This sentence and particularly the order for compensation shows that there is no hiding place for thieves. People who steal need to know that they will be caught and we shall continue to work hard recovering for victims of crime what is rightly theirs.