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Brazen thief uses wheelie bins to steal £3,000 worth of clothes and shoesBrazen thief Reece Wheat made off with £3,000 of goods stuffed in a wheelie bin - he was caught in CCTV footage
legging it from a Footlocker store in NottinghamCommentsNewsBenjamin Lynch News reporter21:51, 30 May 2025 A brazen thief has been banged up after he strode away from a shop with thousands
of pounds worth of goods stuffed into a wheelie bin.
On May 26, Reece Wheat was slapped with a jail sentence of nine months at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court after he was caught stealing from a branch of the clothing store Footlocker on Clumber
Street, Nottingham.
Wheat, 28, nicked trainers and clothes that were worth a hefty £3,000 with the help of two accomplices in the early morning of May 13. Later that day, a Footlocker employees spotted Wheat
wearing Nike clothing that matched the items listed as missing from the shop, leading to his arrest.
'Officers were not fooled,' police said(Image: Nottinghamshire Police / SWNS) Wheat was also caught on CCTV trying and failing to steal biked outside Loxley House, close to Nottingham train
station, on May 25.
Police said: “CCTV inquiries found he was responsible for the burglary and that he’d gained access by removing window bars and climbing into a toilet area within the premises.
Article continues below "Once inside, he changed into staff uniform in an apparent effort to thwart the subsequent police investigation, which includes compiling CCTV evidence.
“But officers were not fooled and further inquiries found he was also responsible for breaking into a bike shed at Loxley House, in Station Street, on 25 May, where he attempted – but failed
– to steal two bicycles. An electrical gate was damaged during the break-in, causing £600-£800 worth of damage.”
Wheat was sentenced to nine months behind bars(Image: Nottinghamshire Police / SWNS) Adding to his crimes, Wheat was identified as having nabbed around £30 worth of washing capsules from a
Savers store on April 27. He pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and two counts of theft.
He also pleaded guilty to another charge of using threatening words with intent to cause fear of violence after he “ threatened a staff member who challenged him in the street after he
failed to pay for the items” at the Savers store, police said.
PC Ben King, of the City Centre neighbourhood policing team, said: “We know the impact retail crime has on local businesses and that is why we are committed to catching offenders.
Article continues below “I hope this custodial sentence will provide reassurance and closure to the businesses affected by Wheat’s brazen offending. As demonstrated in this case, we will
continue to arrest those causing issues and put them before the courts.”
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