Bogus Leeds cleaner who fleeced the elderly of jewellery and cash locked up again

Former Leeds resident Daniella Stoica, who has been jailed and even deported before for similar offences, conned her way into three homes under the ruse that she was a cleaner offering her services.

The 25-year-old appeared in court this week from HMP New Hall near Wakefield, where she has been held on remand, after admitting three offences of burglary.

She first targeted an elderly gentleman in Staffordshire on February 25 last year, when Stoica and her female accomplice knocked on his door and told him they were cleaners. He invited them in to discuss their offer and he showed one of them around the property while the other remained in his kitchen. They each asked to use the toilet with one of them then entering his bedroom and stealing a large quantity of jewellery that he collected.

This included 40 rings worth £1,000, 11 watches worth £1,400, four pocket watches, including one that belonged to his father, and thimbles that had been collected by his late wife. Stoica's finger print was found in the man's wardrobe where the items had been stored.

On November 2 last year, the pair went to an address on Rycroft Close in Outwood, where again they talked their way into the elderly gentleman's property. They distracted him while one of them was able to steal £90.

Two days later they hit a third property, this time in Huddersfield, where they stole stole jewellery including a wedding worth £1,000, from an unsuspecting elderly woman. The woman later identified Stoica during an ID parade.

Stoica, who has previously lived in Harehills but now lives on Warren Road, Stirchley, Birmingham, was arrested but gave no comments. The court heard she had previous convictions. In November 2019 she was jailed for more than four years at York Crown Court for a catalogue of similar, confidence-trick burglaries in Tadcaster, Selby and Pontefract.

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She was deported in 2021 but then travelled back to the UK. Mitigating, Samreen Akhtar said she boarded a flight back because her children still live here. She said she has given birth to another child while in custody.

Judge Christopher Batty jailed her for four years and told her: "These are among the meanest offences someone can commit. You target these people because they have little social contact in their lives and are more likely to invite you in.

"They are less likely to question your cover story and more likely to have money in their houses. They are also less likely to put up a fight if things go wrong. They are vulnerable people, and their home is their world. Any invasion has a devastating impact on them."