Moment burglar falls from ceiling four times while trying to make getaway

"Footage shows Andrew Pickering, 50, raiding a service station in Ouston, Durham, before repeatedly wobbling on a stepladder in a haphazard bid to flee the scene through a hole in the roof. In the CCTV clips, released by Durham Constabulary, Pickering clambers up the ladder used to make his entry before making dramatic falls back to the ground four times - before eventually opting to exit via the door."

"In the video footage, he can be seen clumsily entering through the roof before making his way onto the shop floor and breaking a screen covering the shop's cigarettes, stuffing them into a bag. He then dashes back into the room where he entered, apparently planning a daring exit back up the stepladder. But his escape is thwarted as the burglar is caught on camera climbing the ladder and falling from the ceiling four times - each time dropping the stolen cigarettes on the floor around him."

Andrew Pickering, 50, entered a service station in Ouston, Durham, via a hole in the roof during the early hours of 21 October. He broke a screen covering cigarettes, stuffed them into a bag, and caused approximately £3,219 in loss and damage while stumbling across the shop. CCTV captured him climbing a stepladder and falling from the ceiling four times, each fall dropping stolen cigarettes. After the fourth failed attempt, he exited through a door, ransacked displays, and left with several bottles from behind the till. Forensic testing later confirmed that blood found at the scene belonged to Pickering.

Read at www.independent.co.uk