A second man involved in a brazen city centre shop break-in has been identified and jailed.
Two wheelie bins full of stolen trainers and clothes were dragged through Nottingham in the early hours of 13 May.
Thousands of pounds worth of stock was burgled from Footlocker, in Clumber Street, before being bundled into wheelie bins waiting outside.
CCTV captured a man with his hood up helping burglar Reece Wheat break into the store and pass the items into a pair of – also stolen – bins.
He then joined Wheat in dragging the haul of trainers and clothes through the centre of Nottingham and into the night.
Despite him leaving no forensic evidence behind, police trawled through the available footage and proved the hooded man to be Ellis Bishop.
Officers were able to identify Bishop as the wheelie bin burglar, based on the distinctive tattoos on his leg and arms, and the trainers he was wearing.
After reviewing further CCTV evidence, he was also found to be responsible for three shop thefts in the city centre on 27 May, 15 June and 20 June.
The 30-year-old would go on to be charged with burglary and four counts of shop theft, including the theft of the bins from a neighbouring store.
Based on the mounting evidence against him, Bishop, of Bath Street, St Ann’s, admitted to each charge at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday (30 June).
Following his guilty pleas, he was sentenced during the same hearing to 26 weeks in prison.
Bishop’s accomplice, Wheat, was previously sentenced for his role in the burglary at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 26 May.
Wheat, 28, of no fixed address, was jailed for nine months.
PC Ben King, of the City Centre neighbourhood policing team, said:
“Thousands of pounds worth of stock was stolen during this break-in, before being paraded through the city centre in a pair of wheelie bins.
“Ellis Bishop played a leading role in this brazen burglary by taking the bins from a neighbouring shop and then helping Reece Wheat fill them with stolen trainers and clothes.
“Unlike his accomplice, he didn’t leave forensic evidence at the scene, so identifying him was a bit trickier.
“After extensively reviewing the footage available, however, we were able to link him to his offending by the tattoos he had on show and the trainers on his feet.
“Retail crime can have a real impact on businesses and the staff that work there, so we’re pleased to have now locked up both the people responsible for this burglary.”
