Why is it that siblings steal from each other? Not many years ago Linda and Michael Peters entrusted Linda’s sister, Elaine Morgan, with storing and looking after some of their most valued possessions. Not only were these of strong emotional value, since many of the items had been passed down through the family, but some of them were of high cash value too.
It was only when Michael noticed that a grandfather clock, very similar to one that Elaine was supposedly storing on his behalf, was offered for sale and indeed sold by a local auction house that Linda and Michael Peters realized all was not well. The clock had been given to Michael when he was 23 and had been lovingly looked after and restored. The auction house confirmed that the clock they had sold was by the same maker as Michael’s, that it had a name sticker showing the name of the restorer inside the case and that the seller was indeed………….. yup you guessed it one Elaine Morgan.
They also confirmed that several other pieces had been sold by Morgan at the same auction and surprisingly these all sounded rather familiar to Michael and Linda Peters. These included a table by Gillows, a chaise longue, 4 high back mahogany hall chairs, a very unusual triangular lady's chair and a number of Victorian sofas. All high value items sold at knock down prices.
In total Elaine Morgan ripped her sister and brother in law off for more than £75,000 that is seventy five thousand pounds. To anyone that is a lot of money, to Michael and Linda it was their life savings.
The police were soon involved and they made it clear that Elaine Morgan of Coleford, Gloucestershire was a name they knew quite well. A file was prepared for them detailing all the items she had held, stolen and sold. The dossier showed pictures, insurance valuations and , where known, the sale date and sale value. They had a clear cut case and wanted to prosecute. They thought she would get about 4 years in prison for doing what she had done.
HOWEVER, blood is thicker than water, and you may say that Michael and Linda Peters were thicker than that because they listened to Robert Morgan Snr. – Linda’s and Elaine’s father – who implored Michael and Linda to stop the police action. Out of respect for her father Linda did as she was asked.
Net result? Linda’s father is still not happy with Michael and Linda Peters or Elaine Morgan. Elaine Morgan has gone on to rip many others off and still roams the streets of Gloucester a free woman, despite having been banned from selling on E bay she has escaped all prosecution. And Michael and Linda are £75k out of pocket.
So the old saying of you can choose your friends but not your family has now become –
You can choose your thief and it’s better fi they are in the family – they get away with it!
