Someone was stealing from Samantha Wood: money was disappearing from her savings jar, as well as her nine-year-old boy’s piggy bank. A simple sting uncovered the truth – it was her best friend.
The single mum, from Hedon in Hull, thought she was going crazy. ‘I must be losing this money, I must be being irresponsible, am I spending it and not realising?’ she wondered.
As she grew increasingly suspicious, she resorted to a secret camera, which revealed the unlikely culprit.
Check out the hidden camera’s footage of the theft below:
The 27-year-old met Melissa Collier, 28, at South Holderness Technology College when they were just 13 – soon, they became inseparable, with an assumed level of trust between them.
Samantha knew she didn’t have any real evidence at first, so instead of confronting Melissa, she bought a hidden camera from Amazon and popped it behind the toaster, out of sight. Unfortunately it assisted her in catching her pal red-handed, stuffing money down her bra.
Samantha said:
That day she acted like nothing had happened. She told me she had made me a cup of tea, like she had done me a favour, but she had just stolen from me. I cried when I watched the footage, it was heartbreaking. This was my best friend who I was helping and she was stealing from me, it was such a difficult process.
I’m a single mum and she knew I was struggling myself. She was my best friend, I confided in her in everything and then she was stealing from me. She left me in a position where I couldn’t afford my bills. I loved her like a sister and she has not once cared about how her stealing from me was going to affect my ability to pay my bills or for my son Lucas.
Due to Melissa’s actions, Samantha’s savings have dwindled from £200 to £40 – right before Christmas, too. However, Melissa wasn’t stealing out of desperation; she had a full-time job, so it was just greed at the end of the day.
Samantha added:
What hurts the most is that she didn’t need the money, she wanted the money. She just got greedy, she was spending her own money, but still wanted to go out, buy clothes, have takeaways and didn’t have any money left from her own wages so she just took mine. She was getting her nails done and going for weekends away.
After Samantha reported the incident to Humberside Police, she discovered her friend was already being investigated for burglary.
Melissa, of Trinity Court, Hull city centre, has now admitted one count of theft that was caught on camera at a hearing at Hull Magistrates Court. Following her arrest, she’s sent dozens of messages to Samantha apologising, saying she knows she should’ve stopped.
Melissa wrote:
I’m so sorry, I know you’ve contacted police and got evidence. I should’ve stopped I know I should but I was struggling so much. I know I’ve taken money I’m sorry, I know it’s not easy for you and I’m taking money not just from you but from Lucas too, I am so sorry Sammy.
If I am being honest Sammy, I didn’t think I would get caught, I know that sounds awful and disgusting but I was being selfish and thinking of myself.
I am sorry Sammy, I know you struggle and I shouldn’t have taken money from you and Lucas for that matter. Like I say I was being selfish at the time. I should have stopped a long time ago but I couldn’t get a grip of it.
Melissa pleaded guilty to one count of theft and five counts of burglary at Hull Magistrates Court on November 11. She appeared again on Tuesday, December 10, when her case was committed to Hull Crown Court for sentencing.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.