Policewoman is let off with stealing a phone 'because she was too drunk to know what she was doing'
- Ceri Rees was filmed by CCTV cameras walking through 'staff only' door
- 35-year-old was spotted rummaging through handbags at Swansea casino
- She returned to restaurant area with an iPhone and a charger
- After being challenged by staff she was arrested and charged with burglary
- Jury today took just 40 minutes to find her unanimously not guilty
- Members decided she was too drunk to form the intent to steal
By ANTHONY BOND
PUBLISHED: 13:10 GMT, 6 June 2013 | UPDATED: 17:00 GMT, 6 June 2013
PUBLISHED: 13:10 GMT, 6 June 2013 | UPDATED: 17:00 GMT, 6 June 2013
Free: Former policewoman Ceri Rees, 35, has been cleared of stealing a mobile phone from a casino after a jury decided she was too drunk to know what she was doing
A former policewoman has been cleared of stealing a mobile phone from a casino after a jury decided she was too drunk to know what she was doing. Ceri Ann Rees, 35, was filmed by CCTV cameras as she walked through a door marked 'staff only,' at Aspers casino in Swansea during a night celebrating a colleague's retirement.
The 35-year-old was seen rummaging through two handbags before returning to the restaurant area with an iPhone and a charger.Rees, then a serving officer with Dyfed Powys police, stuffed the phone down her top before slumping onto her side. Her colleague, policewoman Samantha Dawson, put her hand down Rees' dress and retrieved the phone after Rees had been challenged by casino staff. Rees was then arrested and charged with burglary - because she had entered an area of Aspers casino which was not open to the public.
Rees, of Llanelli, South Wales, denied the charge, saying she could not remember even being in the casino.The court heard said she did not dispute what the casino staff had seen but said she was 'adamant' she had no intention of stealing the phone.At Swansea Crown Court today, a jury took just 40 minutes to find her unanimously not guilty after deciding she was too drunk to form the intent to steal.Rees, who has since been dismissed by Dyfed Powys Police, left the court without commenting. She broke down in tears on hearing the verdict.
The trial had previously heard how she and Mrs Dawson had gone to the Pumphouse pub in Swansea on October 2, 2011, to celebrate a colleague's retirement. She drank single vodkas in the pub before moving onto double vodkas in the Bank Statement pub - which is the last thing she could remember.Rees then went on to the casino with Mrs Dawson to carry on drinking vodka.
On camera: The 35-year-old was seen rummaging through two handbags before returning to the restaurant area with an iphone and a charger
Drunk: Ceri Ann Rees, 35, was filmed by CCTV cameras and watched by staff as she walked through a door marked 'staff only,' at Aspers casino in Swansea
Francis Jones, prosecuting, told the court that Rees and PC Dawson ordered a three course meal but Rees suddenly got up and said she was going to the toilet. Instead, she went through a door marked 'staff only,' down a corridor and into an area of the casino where staff left their personal belongings before starting work. Rees was followed back to her seat by another casino worker, Adam Bergamo, who asked for the phone back.Rees, said Mr Jones, had hidden the phone down her top but it was retrieved by Mrs Dawson.Mr Jones said at that point Rees slumped over and began to cry.
Boozy: Rees had gone to the Pumphouse pub in Swansea to celebrate a colleague's retirement before visiting the casino. She drank single vodkas in the pub
Police were called and Rees told officers she could not explain how the phone became hidden in her dress.She told them: "I'm a police officer for God's sake. Why would I do something so stupid? "Police arrested Rees but she became so inconsolable that a doctor had to be called to assess whether she was fit to be interviewed. Rees, of Panteg, Llanelli, west Wales, said she could not remember taking the 'phone or explain why she had.The 35-year-old admitted having a drink problem and said: 'I don't know when to stop - I don't have an off button.'
She said she could remember drinking double vodkas in a pub and then waking up under a blanket in a police cell the following morning.'It was my worst nightmare,' she said. 'I rubbed my eyes hoping that when I opened them again I would be somewhere else.'Rees told the jury it was not the first time she had done something stupid after drinking. Once, she had telephoned a police sergeant and claimed to have been assaulted.'I was given appropriate words of advice,' she explained. Rees told the jury she had been sacked two months after the incident for misconduct.She said she did not dispute what casino staff said she had done, or what the CCTV cameras had recorded, but said she had never intended to permanently deprive casino worker Ceinwen Jones of her mobile and charger.
The owner of Aspers Casino, Damian Aspinall, is pictured when the casino first opened
In her police statement Rees admitted she may have a problem with alcohol and recounted incidents where she had forgotten drunken incidents. She had no recollection of singing karaoke on one night out and had failed to get upstairs to bed on another night. Rees also told police she had once called 999 to report being assaulted but when officers arrived she could not remember calling them - or the incident. Asked if she had ever stolen anything, she said she once took some mints when she was aged four.She told police: 'I wouldn't have done this if I was sober.'
