Bridgnorth bar owner sees burglar on CCTV – and grabs him
A bungling burglar who raided a wine bar was caught by one of its owners the next day – when he walked past the scene of his crime at the same time as staff were reviewing CCTV of the break-in.
Debbie Smallman, who co-owns the Bamboo Wine Bar in Bridge Street in Bridgnorth, said she saw Dean Farrington walk past the window just as his face appeared on footage she was checking following a raid on Tuesday. A 42-inch flat screen TV, cash and alcohol worth £800 had been taken.
Her partner Mark Weale, a former police officer, gave chase and apprehended Farrington before marching him back to the bar and handing him over to police.
Ms Smallman said Farrington had apparently been trying to change the cash in a nearby shop when he walked past the wine bar.
He had also left his name and phone number in the shop – telling staff he was planning to set up a window cleaning business.
Farrington, 35, admitted a charge of burglary at Telford Magistrates Court yesterday and was handed a suspended prison sentence.
Ms Smallman said: "I was just looking at the guy's face as he walked past the bar.
"I shouted "Oh my god" and Mark decided that he would go and apprehend him.
"He caught him up by Beamans Butchers and dragged him back down to the bar where the police were waiting."
"It's absolutely hilarious. We've been telling the story to customers and they are absolutely howling.
"They are saying they wished we had the whole incident on CCTV, so we could send it in to You've Been Framed or World's Stupidest Criminals.
"Mark was in the Criminal Investigation Department for 30 years.
"With him being ex-CID it is just laughable."
The burglar crawled into the bar on Tuesday night under a smashed door.
Ms Smallman said: "When we came in it looked like a stable door.
"We were notified by a neighbour that the back door had been smashed in, so we went straight to the bar.
"When we got through the front we could see someone had been inside and rang the police straight away.
"Because Mark was in the CID he knows the procedure and said not to touch anything because we had to wait for the police so that was when we decided to watch the CCTV."
Farrington, of Parish Rooms Hostel in St Johns Street, Bridgnorth, was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for two years, with a drug rehabilitation requirement of 12 months.
He was also given a supervision order for 18 months.
Sarah Buxton, spokeswoman for West Mercia Police, said: "We received reports of a break-in at Bamboo wine bar sometime between 10.45pm on Tuesday and 7am on Wednesday.
"A quantity of alcohol, cash and a television was stolen."
