Burglar who smashed Bulwell shop window with a sledgehammer jailed

Delwyn McCaffery, 40, of Donbas Close, Bulwell, smashed the windows of the McColl’s Convenience store in Highbury Road with a long-handled sledgehammer just after midnight on September 26, 2019.

He spent a few minutes inside before leaving with £3,700 worth of cigarettes.

Following the burglary, the store was left to repair the damage to window costing £1000, and £2,800 loss of trade, leaving McColl's £7,500 out of pocket.

An investigation was launched by Nottinghamshire Police detectives, who identified McCaffery from CCTV footage.

He was arrested at his home address shortly after the incident.

Officers searched the property, where they recovered the sledgehammer identified in the CCTV footage in the shed.

McCaffery was charged with serious aggravated burglary and was sentenced to two years imprisonment at Nottingham Crown Court.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £149.

Detective Constable Colin Kirkup from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Burglary is incredibly damaging to businesses, as it targets their property, inconveniences the business and its staff and leaves hard-working people out-of-pocket.

“Crimes targeting shops are far from being ‘victimless crimes’ and we must be clear that we will not tolerate this behaviour in our county.

"I am pleased McCaffery has been put behind bars and has been held accountable for his behaviour.”

Nottinghamshire Police have offered advice to help protect your business against robbery.

Remove advertising or posters from windows if they obstruct the view of staff, don’t hold large amounts of cash in your till, do not count cash in public view. Cashing up should take place in a back room, preferably where the safe is located, with the door locked, staff need to be aware they must be extra vigilant at opening time and in the lead up to closing time, keep a record of all suspicious incidents and train staff on how to deal with the public in violent or confrontational situations.