A 'mean and despicable' couple who decorated their flat with sentimental trinkets and tributes that were looted from graves have been banned from cemeteries indefinitely. Sean Jefferson, 45, and Elizabeth Jowitt, 37, covered their home in York with wreaths, lanterns, memorial slates and homemade toys, all of which were once placed on gravestones by grieving family members. Some of the touching items were from the graves of babies, while others were from the gravestone of a grandmother who fought a courageous battle against cancer. Sean Jefferson, 45, and Elizabeth Jowitt, 37, (pictured outside court) admitted handling stolen goods at York Magistrates' Court after decorating their flat in items such as lanterns, wreaths, trinkets and homemade gifts . The couple's actions were eventually discovered when a relative of one of the victims noticed a heart-shaped wreath which was meant for her mother hanging in their home. She contacted police and a raid found further items such as love heart ornaments, rosary beads and homemade gifts being used as decorations. Jefferson and Jowitt pleaded guilty to two counts of handling stolen goods when they appeared at York Magistrates' Court this week. Jowitt had told police that someone had sold her the items which she wanted for 'decoration'. The couple escaped a prison sentence but were given a 47-week curfew and a restraining order banning them from cemeteries in the York area indefinitely. Kia Carlton, 26, said she had already felt suicidal after her daughter Telan died in her cot when she was just 11-months-old and said the disappearance of items from her daughter's grave was 'distressing'. Many of the items which vanished were homemade toys made by Telan's six-year-old brother Taran. In a victim impact statement read to the court, she said: 'I could not believe someone could stoop so low.' It was Angela Ryan who reported Jefferson and Jowitt to police, after she noticed items going missing from her mother Jennifer's grave. While on her way to work she spotted a wreath she believed to have been left for mother hanging in the window of the couple's flat. Items were taken from the grave of Telan Carlton (left) who died in her cot aged 11 months. Her mother Kia Stone said she had found it 'very distressing' that items, some homemade gifts, had gone from the grave . Other items vanished from Jennifer Ryan's grave, a charity fundraiser who passed away from cancer in 2013 . Jennifer's husband Matthew, a retired fork-lift truck driver, said in his statement that his wife had died after 'a long and brave struggle with cancer' in November 2013. The 61-year-old said: 'I was sickened to my stomach to find someone could be so heartless. 'My wife had been so much of a fighter so to hear that she could not even rest in peace was so cruel. 'I can't believe there are people out there so heartless and cruel.' Sentencing the couple, presiding magistrate JP Penny Curry said: 'We have read and taken on board the harrowing accounts from families devastated by the desecration of plots and the removal of items of great sentimental value found in the possession of both defendants.' She also condemned their 'mean and despicable crime' which she said has had a 'devastating effect'. As well as a curfew and indefinite ban from graveyards, the magistrate ordered the couple to each pay £340 court costs and a £60 surcharge. When Jefferson started muttering complaints from the dock about the terms of the banning order, the magistrate responded: 'No 'ifs' and 'buts'. 'Keep quiet, or we might have to retire and reconsider our sentence.' Following the sentencing, Ms Carlton branded their punishment 'disgusting' and said she wanted to 'see them go to jail'. Meanwhile, Trudy Ryan, 40, the daughter of cancer-victim Jennifer, said: 'No family should have to go through what we have gone through. 'They are pair of sick ghouls. They have no compassion or heart or thought for any ones feelings.' PC Pete McFarlane, of York Police, added: 'These items clearly have great sentimental value to the family affected by the theft and they are deeply upset that someone could be so heartless.'
Sean Jefferson and Elizabeth Jowitt decorated flat with trinkets off graves.
Couple had wreaths, lanterns and homemade gift tributes hung in York flat.
The pair admitted handling stolen goods  and were banned from cemeteries.
Victims described couple as 'heartless and cruel' for having grave tributes.