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CCTV picture 'infringes conwoman's human rights'
Last updated at 10:48am on 26.10.06
In the frame: the woman believed to have stolen jewellery worth thousands of pounds, tries some on for size
Jewellers in Kensington being targeted in their shops by a thief have been told not to put up warning pictures of the woman - because it would infringe her human rights.
The latest trader to fall victim to the con artist was even told by police to detain the thief herself.
CCTV footage shows the woman distracting a young shop assistant as she pockets thousands of pounds of expensive rings and necklaces.
Posing as a wealthy woman from Dubai, she snatches jewellery after asking junior assistants to fetch or wrap up other items.
She then says she has to get a credit card from her driver and disappears - only for shocked staff to discover that stock is missing.
Jewellery designer Isabel Kurtenbach, 38, became the latest victim when £2,000 of white gold and silver rings, necklaces and earrings were stolen on Tuesday afternoon.
The thief struck when she left a 24-yearold assistant in charge of her shop - Isabel Kurtenbach Design in Kensington Church Walk.
Ms Kurtenbach said: "I know the woman well, all the shops around here do. She knows I will ask her to leave, so she comes when I'm not here. She is well-spoken, well-dressed and claims to be from Dubai. She says she is very rich and owns lots of property there."
Ms Kurtenbach added: "It is only when you look closely and see her teeth and fingernails - which are in a terrible state - that you realise it's all a lie."
Police have still not collected the CCTV footage from Ms Kurtenbach, but she was advised by a Pc over the phone to try to hold the woman herself, dial 999 and wait for officers to arrive.
Ms Kurtenbach said: "I could not believe it - this woman is a criminal. If I tried to stop her she might attack me, she might have a knife."
Other traders are so sick of being targeted they have asked Ms Kurtenbach to give them a picture of her that can be put up in their shops to warn staff.
But when Ms Kurtenbach asked the police officer if she could do this she was told it would be an infringement of the woman's human rights.
Michelle Manguette owns the nearby Manguette Jewellery store and told how the same woman stole items worth £3,000 four years ago. She said: "The woman asked to see lots of stock and then said she was going to get her card from her driver. Then she disappeared.
"She comes around every year, but won't bother trying if I'm here because she knows I know her. She looks to see if an assistant is here on their own."
The woman also visited Manguette and another jewellery shop in the area in the latest attempt but was asked to leave.
The owner of a nearby clothes shop, who asked not to be named, told how £1,000 of cashmere jumpers were recently taken from her shop.
She said: "She came in and took some stuff into the changing rooms. Then she said she was going to get her credit card from her driver.
"But she never came back and then I noticed the jumpers were gone. I was furious and went after her, but it was too late."
A Scotland Yard spokesman confirmed officers were investigating the latest theft.
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