Couple steals contents of hotel room in Swansea - including pictures on wall

A couple has been arrested after stealing the entire contents of a hotel room in Swansea - including the pictures hanging on the wall.

Laura Barnett, 25, from Cwmavon, booked the Ospreys room at Morgans hotel in Swansea to celebrate her husband Christopher's birthday.

The pair checked in on 26 September, before partying in the city until 6.40am.

At around 9am, CCTV caught Laura leaving the hotel carrying a large bag, which turned out to contain dressing gowns, linen, the contents of the mini bar, and the pictures from the wall.

She put the bag in the car, and then returned to collect the television, which Christopher was passing through the window.

The couple were caught out when Christopher complained about items on the bill relating to pay-per-view TV saying his room did not have a television.

According to This Is South Wales, prosecutor Sharon Anderson told city magistrates: "Staff became suspicious and the porter checked the room and found most of the contents had been removed."

Police were called and the pair were arrested, both admitting theft.

Christopher Barnett was jailed this week for 16 weeks, while Laura received a community order of 12 months and was ordered to complete 80 hours unpaid work.

The story is similar to an incident back in April 2012, when a girl was caught on camera relieving a hotel room in Florida of all its contents.

The girl was videoed entering a room under renovation and leaving with, wait for it, a bedspread, picture frames, an iron and an ironing board, rugs, curtains, a bin, and even the television, according to the Daily Mail.

The lady was caught on CCTV and is thought to have taken around $700 worth of goods from the Sabal Suites in Tampa, Florida.

But is it ever okay to steal anything from a hotel room? After paying for a room, many tourists wrongly feel it's their right to take things from it.

David Elton, partner of the small UK Homegrown Hotels chain, told the Daily Telegraph: "People will steal just about anything they can. Bathrobes, coat hangers, bed linen, mattress covers, towels, pillows, toilet-seat covers - pretty much everything in a room.

"With a small independent hotel there's maybe more of a pang of conscience, but in bigger chain hotels people are less scrupulous."

Apparently, 68 per cent of British travellers have admitted to stealing a towel, but, according to the Metropololitan Police, that's "a crime".

The paper adds the it appears small toiletries that cannot be reused may be "fair game" but anything beyond that is a no-no. And the entire contents of a hotel room? A definite no-no.

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