A hopeless burglar has been jailed for ransacking a charity shop - after he was caught by police hiding in the loo.
Thomas Crampton, 31, was in the middle of raiding the Mind charity shop in Sherwood, Notts, when he inadvertently triggered the intruder alarm.
Police officers on a routine patrol investigated the break-in at 2.30am on Sunday (March 6) and noticed the front door had been smashed.
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The officers then searched the shop and soon found Crampton hiding out in the staff toilets.
Crampton was subsequently arrested and on Monday (March 7) was jailed for 32 weeks after he admitted to two counts of burglary at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard that he had also burgled a business premises in Main Street Bulwell, Notts, on February 28.
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On both occasions he smashed glass doors with a brick to get inside.
Crampton, of Bulwell, also admitted to a theft at the Springfield Retail Park, Bulwell, on Saturday (March 5).
PC Rebekah Jackson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a great bit of work by officers who were alerted by the sound of the shop’s alarm.
“After bravely heading inside through the hole Crampton had left for them, they were soon able to flush him out of his hiding place and arrest him.
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“Burglaries like these have a very significant impact on small businesses who face significant costs to repair the damage left behind.
“I am pleased Crampton has now been brought to justice and hope he uses this spell behind bars to reassess the way he is living his life."
Thomas Crampton hasn't been the only useless criminal to get foiled by the authorities though.
Back in October last year, a pair of bungling burglars got caught by CCTV after the dopey intruder forgot to put his balaclava on before he robbed a shop.
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The footage showed a pair of men entering a pawnbrokers, where one shouts at the shop clerk: “Get me the money, I want the money.”
However, Gareth Park, who is pictured in a Manchester United shirt, clearly forgot to lower the balaclava that is only covering half of his head.
Thanks to this mishap, Park was tracked down and has now been jailed for 34 months, although his accomplice, who is pictured in the video holding a screwdriver, has not yet been caught as he remembered to wear his balaclava and still remains at large.
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Following the robbery, Park was seen looking ‘wobbly’ in Curry’s by witnesses who recognised him from a Facebook post published by Greater Manchester Police.
He then went on to spend £2,298 on two drones.
Thanks to this sighting, Park was eventually caught.
Tom Sanders