Joshua Mayo: Campbelltown real estate agent pawned 80-year-old’s jewellery

A south west Sydney real estate agent stole thousands of dollars worth of jewellery from a vulnerable 80-year-old woman while trying to persuade her to sell her house.

A south west Sydney real estate agent has admitted to breaching the trust of an elderly family friend, stealing and pawning her jewellery in a desperate bid to make money.

Campbelltown real estate agent Joshua Mayo, 37, pleaded guilty to four charges including receive stolen property, make false or misleading statement in purposed compliance with act, steal dwelling in a house and fail to appear at court at Picton Local Court recently.

Court documents reveal Mayo has been employed as a real estate agent since April 2020 within the Macarthur area but works on commission, earning $924 per fortnight via government benefits.

Desperate for more money, the 37-year-old admitted to taking advantage of 80-year-old Doreen Quirk, who he met through his mother.

Joshua Mayo has pleaded guilty to stealing jewellery. Picture: Facebook

Mayo regularly attended Ms Quirk’s Gregory Hills home to perform various duties including cleaning, garden, maintenance and fixing various electrical and internet issues, according to court documents.

He would often arrive unannounced and look around the house but Ms Quirk told police she would often lose Mayo in the house due to her old age and not being able to walk fast.

“She saw him go in and out of her bedroom but when she confronted Mayo, he would provide reasons as to why he would be in the bedroom,” according to court documents.

“Believing Mayo was attending her residence to assist her due to her old age, she regularly allowed him access into her home.”

According to court documents, Mayo had access to all rooms when he was inside Ms Quirk’s home including bedroom, bathrooms and storage cupboards, as no rooms were locked.

Mayo’s visits began to increase in frequency in November and December 2020, causing Ms Quirk to become confused and concerned.

Joshua Mayo admitted to breaching the trust of an elderly family friend. Picture: Facebook

“She believed he was attempting to persuade her to sell the house due to her old age,” court documents state.

On December 2, Mayo went to the 80-year-old’s home where Ms Quirk saw him leave her bedroom and confronted him, becoming suspicious of the visit.

Ms Quirk’s bedroom contained a bathroom and walk-in-wardrobe containing shelves and boxes full of her jewellery but when she went to find items to wear to her son’s wedding on December 6, she noticed various items were missing.

The 80-year-old suspected Mayo may have stolen the items during the various visits and compiled a list of items she knew had been missing, including a nine carat gold neck chain valued at $1500.

She immediately called police but later called Mayo back to her home on December 22 to confront him where he admitted to “making a mistake”.

Mayo handed Ms Quirk a black pouch containing gold earrings, white snowflake earrings, a gold broach with a stone, a gold broach with pearls and a single silver earring with black and white stones – totalling $500.

Joshua Mayo pleaded guilty at Picton Local Court. Picture: Google Maps

Police obtained copies of Mayo’s pawn and selling records where they found he had pawned the gold necklace for $1070 and claimed he was the rightful owner of the necklace, according to court documents.

Mayo was arrested on December 24 and made full admissions to stealing the jewellery on two separate occasions.

Police claim the offending was “planned and calculated” and Mayo “took advantage of Ms Quirk due to her elderly age”.

The real estate agent pleaded guilty to all accounts in court, acknowledging it was a “breach of trust”.

Magistrate Mark Douglass described the offending as “very serious”.

Mayo’s online profiles describe him as having “hard work ethic, outside the box thinking and passion for working with people”.

“Joshua believes that success in sales is an achievement that comes only when respect and trust is earned by a true professional who knows the integrity of simply being a real human being,” his profile reads.

“If you are a client of Joshua's, you can be assured that you will be looked after every step of the way, as you are dealing with a true professional of the real estate industry.”

He will return to court for sentencing in July.