A thief was caught trying to rob a Post Office while wearing a plastic bag over his head.
Jed James, 29, of Wolvercote, Oxfordshire, demanded cash and cigarettes from the woman behind the till on August 23.
James was wearing a Sainsbury’s bag as a disguise and had cut a slit in it so he could see where he was going.
The woman behind the counter told him he was being ‘stupid’ and pointed out there were ‘cameras everywhere’.
Jed James, 29, tried to rob a Post Office while waring a Sainsbury’s plastic bag over his head as a disguise in August.He was jailed for two-and-a-half years on Monday
Jed James, 29, of Wolvercote, pleaded guilty to attempted theft and two counts of attempted robbery
Prosecutor purchase tramadol Cathy Olliver told Oxford Crown Court on Monday: ‘He said ‘got cameras?’ and ran out of the Post Office without achieving his aim of [stealing] cash and cigarettes.’
Police spotted James at around 5pm – six hours after the bungled robbery bid.
They them followed him to a Co-op where the officer caught James trying to pocket chicken breasts.
It emerged that, earlier that day, the defendant had made three trips into the Co-op.
James pleaded guilty to attempted theft and two counts of attempted robbery.
Gareth James, mitigating, said his client had effectively no memory of the events, but accepted it was him on the CCTV.
He had taken Valium and drunk alcohol before the incidents, as he was addicted to both substances.
It was made clear that James did not have a needle or knife on him when he committed the offences, despite his claims to the shop assistants.
His advocate described the crimes as an ‘uncharacteristic spree of offending while under the influence of drugs and alcohol, which he realises he cannot repeat and needs to address’.
Judge Ian Pringle KC jailed James for two-and-a-half years.