Moment idiot raider gets ‘STUCK’ lowering himself into...

THIS is the moment an idiotic thief gets stuck while lowering himself into a Sainsbury's shop via the ceiling. The bungled Mission Impossible-style burglary took place at early this morning (21 February) in central Nottingham. In CCTV footage released by Nottinghamshire Police, the thief's feet gradually appear through the ceiling of the Sainsbury's Local in Radford - as bits of dust and plaster fall beneath him.

Image Credit: The Sun [Surveillance image of a burglar stuck in a Sainsbury's store.]

He then lowers himself down to the waist height, and begins kicking his legs in a panicked attempt to steady himself. In the process, he sends groceries flying off a nearby shelf - including multipacks of drinks. He is then left comedically dangling, as his arms remain arms and shoulders remain stuck.

Image Credit: The Sun [Surveillance footage of a burglar stuck inside a Sainsbury's store.]

Eventually, a panel of the ceiling falls away and he falls in a heap on the ground. Moments later, the thief, who is wearing black trackies and a blue t shirt under a black hooded coat, is seen prowling the supermarket aisles with a carrier bag. He then appears behind the counter, pulling dozens of National Lottery scratch cards from a dispenser.

Image Credit: The Sun [Security camera footage of a burglar stuck while breaking into a Sainsbury's store.]

Cops later revealed the value of the stolen scratch cards to be around £200. Seconds later, a separate camera from outside the store shows the burglar sneaking out of a fire exit. Sainsbury's staff called 999 at 6.10am after spotting the intruder. Officers arrived within six minutes, and found a man matching his description in a nearby street.

Image Credit: The Sun [Surveillance image of a burglar inside a Sainsbury's store.]

The 50-year-old was arrested on suspicion of burglary and taken into custody. In a statement, Inspector Liz Gaskin said: "This was fantastic work by the Response officers who ensured a suspect was swiftly in handcuffs. "The store was closed at the time of the incident and so did not impact on members of the public.

"However it was an alarming incident for the staff and I’d like to thank them for alerting us to the burglary. "No one should arrive for a shift to discover a burglar inside their place of work and I hope they are reassured by the arrest. "As shown today, we will always offer a robust response when community stores are targeted like this and their shelves ransacked.".

Image Credit: The Sun [Security camera footage of a hooded burglar attempting to enter a building.]

It comes after more bizarre footage was revealed of a man escaping court via an upper-storey window in South Africa. The daring getaway was pulled off by Onoshana Thando Sadiki - who was supposed to be facing charges of breaking and entry and theft at Jeppe Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg.