Bulwell charity-shop burglar who hid in toilet to avoid capture is flushed out and jailed

A burglar from Bulwell who hid in a toilet in an unsuccessful bid to avoid capture during a raid on a charity shop has been flushed out and sent to jail.
Thomas Crampton has been brought before the courts and jailedThomas Crampton has been brought before the courts and jailed
Thomas Crampton has been brought before the courts and jailed

Thomas Crampton, 31, was in the middle of burgling the Mind shop in Mansfield Road, Sherwood, when officers on routine patrol noticed its alarm was going off.

After making their way in through a panel in the smashed front door they found Crampton hiding behind the toilet door and arrested him shortly after 2.30am on Sunday March 6.

Crampton appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court this week, where he admitted two counts of burglary and was jailed for 32 weeks.The other burglary took place at a business premises in Main Street, Bulwell, on Monday, February 28.

On both occasions he had forced entry with a brick.

Crampton, of Highbury Road, also admitted to a theft at the Springfield Retail Park, Bulwell, on Saturday, March 5.

PC Rebekah Jackson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a great bit of work by officers who were alerted by the sound of the shop’s alarm.

“After bravely heading inside through the hole Crampton had left for them they were soon able to flush him out of his hiding place and arrest him.

“Burglaries like these have a very significant impact on small businesses who face significant costs to repair the damage left behind, which is why Nottinghamshire Police has two dedicated teams of detectives who specialise in burglary investigations.

“I am pleased Crampton has now been brought to justice and hope he uses this spell behind bars to reassess the way he is living his life.”

A sustained force-wide crackdown on burglaries has seen homes in the county become safer as incidents continue to fall.

The number of burglaries being committed across Nottinghamshire is continuing to drop as the force steps up its proactive work to help stop burglars in their tracks – with nearly four fewer burglaries a day compared to the previous year.

The force has seen a staggering drop of 34 percent when compared to the same period in 2019 – before the pandemic hit.