Butler made off with Mercedes and £250,000 in luxury goods and cash from Adrian Gott and wife in Chilton Foliat.
A WEALTHY couple’s butler abused their trust by absconding with luxury goods and cash worth quarter of a million pounds.
Even when the former navy seaman went missing, along with their Mercedes, their only fear initially was for his welfare, a court heard.
Andrew Stothard was employed as a trusted valet by Adrian Gott and his wife at their mansion near Chilton Foliat, Swindon Crown Court heard on Monday, March 24.
Mr Gott is a director of Artisan Innkeepers, which runs The Wheatsheaf in the village.
Rob Welling, prosecuting, said Stothard was entrusted with a credit card and the run of the home.
But what the Gotts didn’t know was that he had a raging gambling problem – and his glowing references were probably fake.
Mr Welling said the couple noticed 42-year-old Stothard had shown a “keen interest” in Mrs Gott’s Cartier jewellery and designer handbags.
One day they returned home, expecting Stothard to chauffeur them to a horse trials event, to find both him and their Mercedes missing.
Mr Welling added: “There was no sign of the defendant and they couldn’t get hold of him, so they made alternative arrangements.
“Next day, when he was still missing, they became very concerned for his welfare.”
Eventually, they became suspicious and were dismayed to find a number of valuable items were missing, including a £15,000 Rolex watch, another watch worth £100,000, diamond jewellery, a Prada wallet, Chanel handbags and hundreds of pounds in cash, the court heard.
Stothard then brazenly emailed the Gotts, claiming he had merely “taken a few days off” and had taken some jewellery “to get it valued”.
Meanwhile, Gott was spending tens of thousands of pounds on the credit card.
He eventually handed himself in to police.
But, once out on bail, the court heard, he pawned more of the Gotts’ jewellery.
Police discovered Stothard had travelled to London and then to Hull, using the credit card repeatedly to withdraw thousands of pounds in various currencies and purchase expensive gold and silver coins, before laundering them at different stores.
He also repeatedly converted thousands of dollars and euros into pounds and pawned the stolen items of jewellery at pawnbrokers in London.
Mr Welling said: “He wrote a letter to police; it’s a long letter, giving a tale of woe, claiming he owed £22,000 in gambling debts to a Chinese man he met in Morocco and was receiving threats from him.
“It was one thing after another.”
Mr Welling said the Gotts employed Stothard, whose address was given as Market Place, Hull, East Yorkshire, on the strength of an apparently impressive CV.
But, when inquiries were made, a supposed previous employer in Saudi Arabia could not be traced.
Mr Welling said: “These offences involve the breach of a high degree of trust.
“They trusted him completely with very high value items on the premises.”
In total, Stothard stole goods and cash worth around £250,000, the court heard.
Thankfully, the jewellery and all but a few hundred pounds had been recovered, said Mr Welling.
Stothard admitted committing fraud and theft on various dates in Chilton Foliat last year.
Sarah Jenkins, defending, said her client was of previous good character and had served for 13 years in the Royal Navy aboard HMS Southampton, HMS York, HMS Ark Royal and others.
He had shown genuine remorse and wished to compensate the Gotts when he was able.
She suggested Stothard could be rehabilitated in the community with a suspended sentence.
But Judge Simon Taylor KC said the breach of trust was so egregious that was not possible.
He told Stothard: “You were in a trusted role in an obviously wealthy household and you took advantage of your position.”
Even when released on bail, Stothard had continued to offend, he added.
Judge Taylor sentenced Stothard to three-and-a-half years in prison, half of which will be served in custody and the remainder on licence in the community.
