Woman involved in theft of £3.5m tiara avoids jail

A DANGEROUS criminal's former girlfriend who helped him plan the theft of a £3.5million tiara and £250,000 brooch yesterday avoided jail.

- Paul Jeeves 

A judge accepted that Kelly Duong, 35, was "heavily influenced" by Ashley Cumberpatch.

He was jailed for 24 years in 2022 for his part in a string of raids, including one in which former England footballer Ashley Cole was tied up.

Duong, who admitted conspiracy to burgle, was given a two-year suspended jail sentence at Nottingham Crown Court. The judge was told she was seen filming alongside Cumberpatch and others at the Harley Gallery in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, in 2017 a year before the theft of the tiara and brooch from an armoured display case by a gang using power tools.