Mum set up secret camera to catch best friend stealing cash from her son

This is the moment that a woman steals cash from her best friend then rifles through her son’s wallet. 

Samantha Robson, 39, noticed that money was vanishing from her house and she and husband Mark, 38, could not work out why. 

They installed CCTV cameras inside their house which caught Tanya Sellars in the act. Samantha had previously been good friends with Sellars and trusted her so much that she gave her a key to her house.

In total Samantha believes Sellars took nearly £2,000 and was given a suspended prison sentence for burglary in 2017. 

Samantha has only just felt able to talk about what happened.

We met when I was looking I was looking for a childminder. She had just moved in 50 yards away from me, so it was really convenient and we became good friends, She said.

We used to go walking together and babysit for each other. I used to breed Persian cats and she offered to check on them for me while I was at work so I gave her a key to the house.

When money started going missing, it never occurred to me that it would be going from the house, I thought it must be while I was at work. I even confided in her about the money going missing, and she encouraged me to leave my job saying “I couldn’t work somewhere with a potential thief”. ‘When we checked the cameras, I couldn’t breathe when I saw her face on the screen. We watched her as she rifled through our son’s wallet, I was just so upset I felt sick. ‘I was supposed to be going on a walk with her the next day but I just pretended I was ill. ‘Our children go to the same school and I couldn’t even take my kids to school because I knew I would see her.

Samantha said that she and Mark, an electrician, realised money was going missing from the house safe when the amount of money they had deposited into specific cash wallets was significantly less than what they stored in the safe. 

She added:

We only knew exactly how much was in each wallet because they all had labels on for specific things. ‘We regularly put money away in the safe because I’m self-employed, so that’s how I would save up for holidays or the kids’ birthdays. 

After the money started going missing, Mark pointed out that it had to be someone we knew who had access to our home, so we had cameras fitted. It made it even worse that she was taking the money she knew was for the children’s birthdays or our holidays. It will be two years ago in July that it happened. 

I’ve really been struggling with it, to be honest, it has affected my mental health. 

She’s shown no remorse, and it’s given me anxiety. ‘Not everyone is like that or could do what she did, but it has made me question people’s motives in other friendships. I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what we did.

Source: METRO