Burglar Forgets To Put Balaclava On While Robbing Pawnbrokers
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CCTV has caught the moment a dopey burglar forgot to put his balaclava on before he robbed a shop.
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 Man 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.
However, his accomplice, who is pictured holding a screwdriver, has not yet been caught as he remembered to wear his balaclava.
In total, £19,358 was stolen by the pair.
The CCTV footage shows the incident from October, in which the pair can be heard repeatedly demanding the shop clerk hands over the money.
The clerk can be heard saying, “I’m doing it now,” before the money runs out and he asks: “Do you want the Euros?”
The thieves replied: “Yes, ta,” before leaving the shop and calling out: “See you later.”
Further screenshots from the footage, shared with Manchester Evening News, show wads of cash on the desk as the unnamed thief, who is wearing yellow gloves, wields a yellow screwdriver towards the clerk.
In a statement heard later by Minshull Street Crown Court, the clerk described feeling incredibly threatened, as they ‘genuinely felt they were about to get stabbed’.
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 went on to spend £2,298 on two drones.
Thanks to this sighting, Park was caught.
The prosecutor later said: “Members of the public stopped the defendant from driving away and took hold of the defendant who was later arrested on suspicion of robbery.”
Earlier this week, two fraudsters were caught after winning £4 million on a scratch card they'd bought using stolen bank details.
Mark Goodram and John Watson used details from a debit card belonging to a man called Joshua Addiman - who they didn't know - to buy five scratchcards at a Waitrose store.
They then found out they had won £4 million on the second.
The pair then celebrated by going on a four-day bender, posting their escapades across social media.
They were later referred to the police, who had dealt with the pair before, as Goodram already had 24 convictions, while 34-year-old Watson had 74 convictions.
On Tuesday 14 December, the pair were both sentenced to 18 months in jail.
