A MAN has been jailed for stealing bank cards and cash from the personal belongings he found in shop staff rooms.
Scott Gallagher, of Sneinton Hermitage in Sneinton, pretended to be a customer browsing in stores in Nottinghamshire before breaking into their staff rooms to ransack the property of staff members.
He targeted two stores, in Colwick and Sneinton, earlier this year, both which were open at the time.
“Rather than looking through the stock on the shelves however, the thief made a beeline for the staff rooms,” a spokesperson for Nottinghamshire police confirmed today.
“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 stores.”
Scott Gallagher has been jailedPolice were notified when the break-ins were discovered on July 18 and September 18, 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.
After pickpocketing a customer and making off with their wallet, the police were called again.
Gallagher was spotted by an officer an hour later and arrested.
During his arrest, the officer discovered crack cocaine and heroin in the 38-year-old’s possession.
Gallagher was later 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 on December 14 and was sentenced to 1,241 days in prison – just over three years and four months.
Speaking this week, 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 for buying anything but instead snuck around and took what didn’t belong to him.”
He added: “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.
“We’re pleased to see that Gallagher is now being punished for his behaviour, in the form of a lengthy prison sentence.”
