A HOME-visit hairdresser stole £800 worth of gold jewellery from a long-term client and sold the items on at just £20 a time because he was desperate for cash.

Darryn Dawson, from Kington, had previous convictions for stealing from clients, a series of theft and fraud offences that earned him a suspended prison sentence in 2006, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Dawson, aged 37, from Turnpike Cottage, was jailed for eight months having admitted further such offences, committed earlier this year.

Peter Parson, prosecuting, said that Dawson’s haul included gold rings and pendants from a woman who had been his client for 10 years.

The victim, said Mr Parson, was not in the best of health and found it difficult to get around, so Dawson was given the run of the house to help out. Police were called in when she noticed that the jewellery Dawson said he would take away to clean had not come back.

Dawson, the court heard, had instead sold the jewellery on in Kington, saying it was his to sell. In 2006, Dawson admitted tricking clients out of cash through false promises to pay back sums he had borrowed, and received a suspended sentence.

Anthony Weston, defending, said Dawson had been “insanely stupid” in committing his latest offences, having been tempted by the jewellery when struggling for cash.

Judge John Cavell told Dawson that such a breach of trust, compounded by previous similar offences, deserved an immediate prison term.