A burglar who snuck into the back of a shop in Colwick and helped himself to items belonging to staff has been jailed.
The store was open at the time when Scott Gallagher made his way in and pretended to be a customer.
Rather than looking through the stock on the shelves however, the thief made a beeline for the staff rooms.
After making his way in undetected, Gallagher rifled through coat pockets and snatched bank cards and cash.
He then made his way straight out of the store.
Gallagher also stole items belonging to staff at a store in Sneinton during a separate incident.
The police were notified when the break-ins were discovered – on July 18 and 17 September 17 of this year – with Gallagher linked to both offences.
Despite being wanted for those burglaries, Gallagher tried to steal again on October 10 from a corner shop in Sneinton Dale. He pickpocketed a customer and made off with their wallet, the police were called again, and he was spotted by an officer an hour later. He was then detained at the scene, at which point the officer discovered crack cocaine and heroin in the 38-year-old’s possession too.
Gallagher would go on to be charged with two burglaries, a theft, and two counts of possessing Class A drugs.
Having pleaded guilty to the charges, he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court for sentencing on Thursday (14).
Gallagher, of Sneinton Hermitage, Sneinton, was sentenced to 1,241 days in prison – just over three years and four months.
Sergeant Paul Crofts, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “On more than one occasion, Gallagher made his way into shops with the intention of stealing.
“While posing as a customer, he showed little interest in buying anything but instead snuck around and took what didn’t belong to him.
“As an added insult to the shopworkers, Gallagher made his way into the staff rooms of the stores and pocketed their things before making his exit.
“He will have known what he’d done was wrong, but he carried on stealing, with his actions catching up with him when he was spotted by one of our officers.
They added: “We’re pleased to see that Gallagher is now being punished for his behaviour, in the form of a lengthy prison sentence.”
