A cleaner who stole thousands of pounds’ worth of precious jewellery and family heirlooms from a “heartbroken” York couple has been jailed for 12 months.

Kerry Ann Moynihan, 47, was arrested in May 2022 after the victims - a professional, middle-aged couple who live in an affluent York suburb - discovered their most prized items were missing and informed police.

The thief pilfered more than £3,000 of items of “extremely sentimental value” from her trusting clients who had just welcomed a new baby boy into the world, York Crown Court heard.

Moynihan had been hired as a home cleaner by the couple, initially through a cleaning company and then on a freelance basis, over a two-month period between February 17 and April 24, 2022.

During that time, she stole an array of items including the woman’s engagement ring worth £1,600, a wedding ring worth £1,090, a £500 gold-chain necklace and the gold watch. Moynihan even stole the new baby boy’s knitted green hat.

Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said that Moynihan, of Butcher Terrace, York, also stole £20 cash and food such as crisps and sweets.

When she was arrested in 2022, Moynihan’s flat near Rowntree Park and her car were searched. The gold watch stolen from the woman was found inside her vehicle, but Moynihan claimed that she had bought the timepiece at a car-boot sale “a number of years previously” but she never wore it “because it’s too small”.

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Moynihan, who had a track record for fraud and thievery, had been trusted to be left alone in the couple’s house when they were out, the court heard.

On one occasion, the female victim returned from a short walk with her baby to find her jewellery boxes had been emptied. Among the missing items were her precious bracelets, wedding and engagement rings and an ornate link watch bequeathed to her by her late grandmother. Also missing were a necklace which her parents had given for her 30th birthday and a greetings card sent to her new baby.

It turned out that Moynihan had “gone snooping” inside the couple’s bedroom where she stole the rings from the bedside table and other jewellery from the ring-box stack.

The victim said she “burst into tears” when she discovered the jewellery box was empty.

She described as “heartbreaking” the thought that her precious heirlooms had likely been cashed in by Moynihan. None of the items, other than the gold link watch, had been recovered.

She said that she and her husband had “given (Moynihan) every kindness” while she helped them out at their home.

She described the thefts as “the lowest of the low” which occurred at a particularly “emotional and stressful” time for the family.

She felt “violated in my own home” and described her ordeal as “horrifying” which she “wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy”.

The couple's home-contents insurer refused to recompense them for their loss because they had “effectively invited” Moynihan into their home.

During police questioning, Moynihan told officers she had a “good relationship” with the family and claimed she had never been accused of stealing before, never mind convicted of thefts, and maintained this lie in the lower court until her record was revealed to magistrates.

Her 20-year criminal record comprised 16 previous convictions for 22 offences and included shoplifting, benefit fraud, drug possession and theft from a dwelling.

Graham Parkin, Moynihan’s solicitor advocate, said his client, who had recently undergone knee-replacement surgery, was now in poor health and her conviction for drug possession in 2022 was during a time of “self-medication because of the pain she was experiencing”.

Judge Simon Hickey said Moynihan, who had admitted theft of the gold watch, had “breached (the victims’) trust” by stealing an array of precious items including their baby’s first hat.

He noted the “emotional damage and heartache” suffered by the victims who had changed all the locks at their house and no longer felt safe in their own home.

He said that “for this type of crime, the breach of trust and the impact it’s had on the victim”, only an immediate jail sentence could be justified.