A burglar tried to hide from police underneath a pile of clothes.
Officers knocked on the door of a Hucknall house after hearing Carl Thomas could be inside.
Police were on the lookout for Thomas after he burgled one property and tried to break into another.
These inquiries led the county priority tasking team to a house in Rufford Close on 30 October last year.
While searching a messy bedroom, officers heard a rustling sound coming from underneath a pile of coats.
Believing it could be Thomas, they moved the clothes and – sure enough – found the 58-year-old trying to hide among them.
He was duly pulled to his feet and placed under arrest for burglary, at which point Thomas told officers: “I don’t do burglaries.”
That was a lie, with various evidence pointing to him being responsible for breaking into a Hucknall home and stealing a handbag on 3 October.
Clear CCTV footage from that same night also showed him trying to use a stolen bankcard from the bag to buy items from a shop.
If that wasn’t enough, Thomas was also responsible for trying to break into another Hucknall property – this time the garage – on 14 September.
Having reviewed footage of the respective incidents, neighbourhood officers from Ashfield were able to identify Thomas.
This ultimately then prompted the priority tasking team to knock on the door that led to them discovering his hiding place.
Thomas, of Montague Road, Hucknall, pleaded guilty to burglary, attempted burglary and fraud by false representation during a January court appearance.
He then returned to Nottingham Crown Court last Friday (20 March), where he received an 876 day – roughly two years and four months – prison sentence.
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Detective Sergeant Adam Penn, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“Carl Thomas’ discovery showcased the game of cat and mouse our officers are often forced to play with criminals.
“Even when we’d managed to track down his location – to the very room he was in – Thomas still tried his best to hide under a pile of coats.
“Despite his best efforts though, his hiding place was quickly rumbled, and we were ultimately able to charge him with a series of offences, including burglary.
“We were really pleased to see the strength of our case prompt Thomas to admit what he’d done, while it was great to see him subsequently jailed for his actions too.”
