Nicked!

 

Jason Paul Austin legged it with £2,800 worth of gold chains last September from Welshpool Jewellers and £2,500 of rings from Woodruffe Jewellers in Newtown in a separate raid and despite sister site mywelshpool carrying his CCTV image, he disappeared without a trace.

 

But the 38-year-old, of Marbury Drive in Bilston, West Midlands, was finally caught after using the same technique to grab 15 gold and sapphire eternity rings valued at £4,500 from the Shropshire store. He was jailed for 32 months at Mold Crown Court which was told that he had carried out at least nine raids, including the theft of an air ambulance charity box.

 

In Welshpool, Austin asked to see a tray of gold chains from the window display and then fled into the street “like an athlete”.

 

But his downfall came when one of the raids at Mayflowers Jewellery Shop in Bridgnorth was shown on the BBC programme, which led to him being arrested.

 

Peter Moss, prosecuting, said Austin had been involved in a number of raids including the Tres Belle Jewellers in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, where he got away with £20,000 worth of rings.

 

In his defence, his lawyer explained that Austin had been a drug addict since the age of 16.