Jail for burglar who stole £20,000 BMW in Rotherham

The £20,000 car was taken on October 9 last year, the first offence in a three-month crime spree which involved eight burglaries.

Cars and other items were taken, but the offender was caught when the absent-mindedly left a receipt in a stolen car which was recovered by South Yorkshire Police.

Quick-witted officers took it back to the shop where offender Joseph Johnson, aged 20, had made a purchase.

They were able to locate him on CCTV, allowing police to track him down and unpick his offending, which went on until December 17 last year, with a total of seven vehicles stolen.

As a result, Johnson, of Park Spring Grove, Sheffield, pleaded guilty to eight burglaries, an offence of dangerous drive and assault by beating of an emergency service worker.

The latter two offences were committed on December 13, when Johnson was driving a car and sped off as an officer tried to arrest him.

That resulted in the officer, who had been holding a door handle on the car, being dragged along the ground.

The vehicle Johnson was driving also collided with another parked vehicle.

A Judge at Sheffield Crown Court jailed him for six years and three months.

Investigating officer Ellie Pearson said: “A lot of police work has gone into securing his jail time, from tracking stolen cars and the subsequent forensic work to identifying Johnson as an offender by following the trail of a shopping receipt.”

Johnson also admitted four other burglaries, and one attempted break-in at a ‘taken into consideration’ interview.