Fay Ripley was framed for a £75,000 jewellery theft while working as a clown.
The ‘Cold Feet’ star – who was the entertainer at a children’s party – has claimed she was set up by a rich couple who buried diamond necklaces in the garden and accused her of stealing them as part of an insurance scam.
Speaking on Jay Rayner’s ‘Out to Lunch’ podcast, she said: "I had done a party and my clown name was ‘Miss Chief’…
"I did a kids’ party over in Wimbledon I think, and it was in a big house and the thing I remembered was they tipped me very heavily and I was very pleased about that.
"[At one point in the party] I went, ‘Who wants to go to the toilet?’ And [the parents] said, ‘You can’t use the downstairs toilet, could you go through the bedroom? There is an en suite through the bedroom.’ "
The 54-year-old star – who spent time working as a clown while studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama – revealed the next day she was woken up at home by six police officers.
She added: "Next day, knock at the door, six big burly policemen, to search my house and look for £75,000 worth of diamonds and jewellery.
"It all got quite scary. I was just a young clown trying to make my way.
"I don’t think I was taken in for questioning but it got really scary and I mean when they saw me and saw my Harry the Hedgehog puppet from my puppet show, they were like ‘I don’t think this Miss Chief is nicking £75,000 worth of jewellery.’ "
Fay – who described the whole situation as an episode of ‘Midsomer Murders’ – revealed the couple were actually trying their luck with "an insurance job".
She said: "It turned out it was an insurance job and [the parents] had buried it in the garden and had set me up.
"The loo downstairs was working – it was like an episode of ‘Midsomer Murders’. I think they realised it quite quickly and informed my parents it was all OK and they had found a necklace in the garden.
"They actually arrested the parents and I don’t think it was even the kid’s birthday."