A shop worker and her boyfriend staged a raid at a Holland & Barrett store and tried to claim compensation for the attack, a court heard, after police investigators pieced together DNA, automated number-plate recognition and mobile-phone data linking the pair to the incident.
Prosecutors said Patricia Marlborough, 28, told colleagues and investigators that she had been terrorised by a knife-wielding man who forced her to open the safe and tied her hands with cable ties before fleeing with almost £8,000 in cash from the Congleton, Cheshire, branch on August 16, 2021. While police investigated, Marlborough submitted a claim for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA).
Officers said the plot began to unravel after a tip-off in July 2022 that Marlborough's boyfriend, Kristian Bramah, 29, had been involved in planning the raid. Forensic analysis of the cable ties produced a partial DNA profile that matched Bramah, and ANPR and mobile-phone data placed him in the area around the time of the robbery. Investigators also identified phone contact between the two before and after the incident, police said.
Both were arrested and initially denied staging the event, but later pleaded guilty at Chester Crown Court to a series of offences. Marlborough, of Hyde, admitted conspiracy to steal, committing a series of acts with intent to pervert the course of justice, and fraud by false representation. Bramah, of Salford, admitted conspiracy to steal and possession of a knife in a public place.
Marlborough was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation days. Bramah received a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 25 rehabilitation days.
Detective Constable Sarah Sayer of the Macclesfield Local Policing Unit said the pair had "carefully planned the robbery with the intent of making as much money as possible." She said investigators were able to "uncover their web of lies before she was able to gain any further cash," and added that the episode had consumed significant police time and resources that could have been used to help genuine victims.
Court documents and police statements submitted at the hearing set out the sequence of investigative steps that led to the charges: an initial victim report and store CCTV that prompted a robbery inquiry; a later intelligence tip; targeted forensic testing of items recovered from the scene; and digital inquiries using ANPR and mobile-phone records. The prosecution relied on that combination of physical and electronic evidence to show the raid had been orchestrated by the two defendants rather than carried out by an unrelated assailant.
The case highlights the role of forensic and digital techniques in linking suspects to staged incidents and in policing claims to compensation schemes. The CICA is responsible for assessing applications from people alleging they suffered injury as a result of crime; in this case, police said Marlborough submitted a claim while the robbery inquiry was ongoing.
Sentencing remarks and formal victim-impact statements were not reported in detail. The suspended sentences mean the custodial terms will take effect if either defendant breaches the conditions of their suspension during the two-year period.
The police said the investigation remains an example of how open-source tip-offs and routine forensic follow-up can alter the course of an inquiry into alleged violent crime.