Would-be thief James Sansom caught after wearing same clothes as on day of offence in Canterbury
by Paul Hooper
Bungling would-be supermarket thief James
Sansom made it a little easier for detectives to find the man
caught on CCTV trying to steal booze and tobacco.
Officers investigating the attempted theft at
the Sainsbury's store in Old Dover Road, Canterbury, the following
day spotted the 32-year-old in Sturry Road.
And Canterbury Crown Court heard Sansom
was wearing the SAME clothes as the thief in the video footage.
Sansom, of Melbourne Avenue, Ramsgate claimed
he had "borrowed" the clothes from a friend that morning.
But after denying a charge of burglary, he
pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of attempted theft and was
given a three-month jail sentence suspended for a year.
Jim Harvey, prosecuting, told how
Sansom was spotted in an area of the store off-limits to
customers - claiming he was looking for a toilet.
Staff then reviewed the CCTV and saw the
raider attempting to break into two cupboards, where high-value
goods were kept, using a metal bar.
Mr Harvey said Sansom walked away empty-handed
after being challenged by a store official.
James Sansom was
sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court
The prosecutor added: "Police officers arrived
to look at the CCTV footage the following day and a very short
while later came across Sansom, still appearing to be wearing
exactly the same clothes he had been wearing the previous
evening.
"He was stopped and searched and in his
pockets officers found a pair of gloves he had been seen to have
been wearing in the store."
Peter Alcock, defending, said the
attempted theft was "a low end, spur-of-the-moment
offence".
He said Sansom had been in a
row at home and got drunk before going out.
Judge James O’Mahony ordered him to undergo a
six-month treatment for his drug problems.
"This is your last chance because if you
offend again then it's off to prison you will go," he said.
21/09/12
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