Thieving Fiancée Turned in by Bride-to-Be

A lovestruck thief who planned to fund his dream wedding by repeatedly robbing affluent houses in Yorkshire came undone when his fiancée turned him into the rozzers. The pair had been set to marry at Castle Howard, a lavish building just outside of York, which has been used as the set for popular TV series like Brideshead Revisited and Victoria.

However, the wheels came off the £30,000 affair when the blushing bride-to-be found her husband’s thieving exploits made her a little too red around the gills and dropped him in it, landing them both lengthy prison sentences.

A marriage fit for royals…

Ben Catterill and Katie Henderson had originally planned to tie the knot back in September 2014 and for their big day, they’d made the biggest of plans. Despite having no demonstrable source of income, the couple selected the priciest wedding option on offer at Castle Howard, whacking down a whopping £5,000 deposit to secure their date.

The wedding day itself was to involve a string quartet band, a lavishly expensive designer florist and 60 guests, every one of whom was to be treated to a three-course-meal complete with canapes and champagne, worth an estimated £140 a head.

In the run up to the big day, the pair had been enjoying a life of luxury all out of keeping with their income. Exotic holidays and expensive nights out became commonplace as they prepared for their wedding in recklessly opulent fashion.

… but funded by rogues

Of course, the money for these extravagances had to come from somewhere and unfortunately, the obvious answer turned out to be the correct one. Catterill had apparently been plundering a number of houses on the famously wealthy street nicknamed Millionnaire’s Row and using the proceeds from his racket to fund the wedding.

Among other items, he stole in excess of £4,000 worth of jewellery, including diamond rings and Tag Heuer watches, as well as Louis Vuitton bags and other valuables. A police investigation uncovered photos of the stolen goods on Henderson’s phone and lengthy conversations in which they discovered how best to harvest the proceeds of their “grafting”, as the pair termed it.

Their skulduggery came to light after the pair had been rowing, when Henderson called the Old Bill on her boyfriend and claimed he’d been “bragging” about his misdeeds – apparently oblivious that she’d be implicated as well.

The wheels come off

With fingers being pointed all over the place, the wheels came off not only their wedding plans but also their relationship. While on remand in Leeds Prison, Catterill embarked upon an affair with a prison worker, putting paid to their relationship as well as their freedom.

“This couple’s extravagant plans for a luxury wedding and the matter of fact way in which they discussed committing crimes by text message shows a complete disregard for the impact of these offences on the victims,” remarked Detective Inspector Neil Thompson.

“They were brought to justice as a result of a thorough and detailed investigation which uncovered clear evidence linking them to the crimes.”

Crime doesn’t pay – neither does criminal negligence

This story just goes to show that unscrupulous scoundrels have no remorse when it comes to taking what belongs to others, and that they might have gotten away with it if trouble in paradise hadn’t arisen. Make sure your household doesn’t fall prey to the same kind of cretinous behaviour by securing your property adequately. At Blackburn Alarms, we have a whole host of intruder alerts, CCTV cameras and access control systems to increase safety and give you peace of mind. To find out more about how we can help secure your home or workplace, get in touch with us today.