Showing now | News

00:45

Tea towel helps police catch masked burglar after football grounds break-in

A burglar who used a tea towel to mask his face was caught when police located the cloth he discarded off a bridge.

On 4 May, Jamie Harris, of Beck Crescent in Mansfield, broke into Mansfield FC’s One Call Stadium, where he stole alcohol, till printers, charity tins and a computer.

CCTV footage shows Harris carrying out the burglary with a black and blue tea towel wrapped around his face, with a later clip showing him throwing the gingham cloth off the side of a railway bridge.

Nottinghamshire Police used CCTV to track his journey after he left the scene, and soon located the distinctive tea towel. After the item was forensically examined, it was found to contain saliva belonging to Harris.

Harris pleaded guilty to the burglary at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court last month. He also admitted to two counts of theft from a motor vehicle in separate incidents. He has been jailed for 11 months.