Botched burglary lands Sutton Mars bars thief in jail

Jamie Hill caused around £1,000 in damage after forcing entry to the building on Lammas Road before he then charged around the inside the property trying in vain to take whatever he could get his hands on.

He failed to get snacks out a vending machine, before unsuccessfully attempting to steal the contents of a change machine too.

The 45-year-old didn’t leave the bus depot completely empty-handed though, after swiping chocolates from a tuck shop.

Having fled into the night – around 2am on January 21 – with his chocolate haul, it didn’t take long before Hill was tracked down by police.

Officers from the county priority tasking team managed to identify him as the culprit, having reviewed the available onsite footage.

On closer inspection, the team also then linked Hill to two other offences too – based on the beanie hat he was seen wearing during the burglary.

The thief had the same hat on his head while carrying out two separate shop thefts at the same Sutton store on January 10 and 19.

Faced with this evidence, Hill admitted to all three of his crimes after being stopped and arrested in Sutton town centre on January 28.

He would go on to repeat this guilt when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on January 29, having been charged with one burglary and two shop thefts.

Hill, of no fixed address, was sentenced to four months in prison.

PC Dean Fenton, of Nottinghamshire Police’s county priority tasking team, said: “This really showcased the value of the local knowledge and expertise built up by our policing teams over time.

“Having previously run into Hill on numerous occasions in the past, we were quickly able to identify him as being the man in the footage carrying out this burglary.

“We were then able to link him to two shoplifting offences too, after noticing he was wearing the same grey beanie hat on his head in all three incidents.

“It was pleasing to see Hill has now been jailed for his crimes.”