Police officers caught up with a thief within hours of him breaking into a jewellers.
Kieron Millin helped himself to around £10,000 worth of watches and jewellery from the store.
He also left a trail of carnage in his wake after smashing a window and shattering a glass cabinet.
Millin then made his way to the exit with the valuables and a till before crawling out the broken window.
The burglary took place in Market Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield.
The county priority tasking team officers visited the shop and immediately recognised Millin in the footage.
Within a few hours of the burglary – which happened around 2.45am on Thursday (12 February) – he was in handcuffs.
The same officers who identified him from the CCTV spotted Millin as he cycled through Sutton-in-Ashfield, around 9.50am.
On closer inspection, one of the stolen watches was found on his wrist, while some of the jewellery was in his pockets too.
Faced with the weight of evidence against him – he was also wearing the same clothing as in the footage – Millin eventually admitted what he’d done.
Having been charged with burglary, the 45-year-old then repeated his guilt when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Friday (13 February).
Millin, of no fixed address, has been remanded into custody until 6 March, when he will be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court.
PC Dean Fenton, of Nottinghamshire Police’s county priority tasking team, said:
“Our officers were quickly able to identify Millin from the CCTV of this break-in, due to our various dealings with him in the past.
“Armed with this information, it thankfully didn’t then take us long to detain him after spotting him out and about in the community.
“Due to the speed of this response, we actually found him with some of the stolen valuables still in his possession, while he also had the same clothing on too.
“Despite initially denying knowing anything about a burglary when we stopped him, the strength of the evidence against him meant he had no choice but to admit what he’d done.
“We’re pleased to see he’s now been remanded into custody and will be sentenced for his offending next month.”
