Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 16 December 2021

A THIEF who tried to steal goods from a shop in Castle Street has been banned from Hinckley after being caught by five youths and a security guard.

A couple of weeks ago, local officers had received a report that a theft had taken place at a Castle Street-based premises in Hinckley town centre.

The search was underway to catch the crook as soon as the report of the theft was received, as CCTV camera operators provided other shops, security teams, and officers, with a description of the offender through the town’s retail radio system.

An eagle-eyed member of The Crescent’s Security Team, spotted the thief and challenged him – and even successfully managed to take some of the stolen goods out of his hands, but the thief tried to flee from the confrontation by dashing off.

But, he was recognised, and spotted by a group of five youths who had been speaking to the on-site Crescent shop security at time, who had spotted what was going on, and gave chase following the man until local police officers were able to catch up.

The offender was a white male, in his 20’s, from the neighbouring town of Nuneaton.

He was detained by officers on Bridge Road in Burbage, after crossing the Hinckley railway station bridge.

The youths, who were still following, were able to identify the offender to other officers and were able to show them where he had hidden the remaining stolen property.

They even offered to show them the route he had taken – in a bid to help retrace his steps, in case he had disposed of anything else.

The male was dealt with by Police for this theft, as well as another that he had committed just a couple of days prior.

He was banned from making a return to Hinckley in the future, in a bid to prevent him from committing any further crimes.

Yesterday (15 December), the young men who helped officers were invited to Hinckley Police Station, where they were presented with a Neighbourhood Commanders Award for Outstanding Work by Inspector Jamie Osborne, in front of their parents.

A Police spokesperson, said: “We hope the awards go a little way to saying thank you for leading by example.

“Hopefully one day they may chose to take this further and join the thin blue line! Watch this space!”