A Kington couple who stole thousands of pounds worth of rare stamps from a sick Presteigne relative’s “prized collection”, have been jailed.
Kenneth Kensall, a devoted collector for 60 years, had over 400 albums of stamps which held both a monetary and sentimental value for him. The 67-year-old, who had recently had his left leg amputated below the knee, suffers with reduced vision, diabetes and has had cancer and suffered three heart attacks.
While he was in hospital, his wife’s daughter and her partner stole hundreds of stamps worth up to £46,000 and sold them. Many have never been recovered.
Jade Roxanna Cambridge, 24, and Kevin Brian Pugh, 33, both of Passey Court, Kington, had both admitted stealing the stamps, which included Penny Blacks, Penny Reds and Penny Blues, during a previous appearance at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court.
At the court on Friday, Pugh, who stole £30,000 worth of stamps, was jailed for two years, while Cambridge, who admitted stealing £900 worth, was jailed for nine months.
Judge Judge Curran said the circumstances of the offence could only be described as “particularly mean” and illustrated the desperate depths heroin addicts were willing to go to.
He said Cambridge and Pugh had been made to feel welcome by Mr Kensall. “You took full advantage of his hospitality to steal a significant part of his much-prized stamp collection. It means much more to him than its monetary value – it is a life-long hobby to which he was devoted.”
Prosecuting, Nuhu Gobir said Mr Kensall had originally employed Cambridge’s mother Debbie as a carer, but they had since married. Cambridge and Pugh had visited Mr Kensall and his wife on a few occasions and had stayed overnight on at least one occasion while Mr Kensall was in hospital “to make sure the house was secure”.
In June and September last year, Mr Kensall was admitted to Hereford Hospital with various health problems. Mr Gobir said that one occasion when returning from the hospital, Mrs Kensall became hysterical when she saw two Penny Red stamps in the footwell of her car. Cambridge suggested they could have been planted there.
When Mr Kensall returned from hospital, he went to place some loose stamps in an album and noticed one album was upside-down on the shelf. Picking it up, he realised it was nearly empty with pages of Penny Black stamps missing.
In all, 60-80 Penny Blacks had been taken, worth over £100 each – a total value of £6,000-£8,000. Some 500-600 Penny Reds were missing, worth about £30-£50 each, and 400 Penny Blues had been taken, worth about £20 each.
For the full story, see this week’s Mid Wales Journal