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Justice desserts: Burglar caught napping next to half-eaten cheesecake

PA/Pikrepo
PA/Pikrepo

A burglar who broke into a restaurant was caught snoozing at the scene of the crime - next to half-eaten cheesecake.

Mark Cooper, 41, was roused by arresting officers as they responded to the break-in in Sunderland on Saturday morning.

The police arrived at 808 Bar & Kitchen within minutes of being alerted to the incident. There, they found Cooper fast asleep on the floor, along with the half-eaten dessert.

Video from an officer’s body-worn camera showed the 41-year-old looking bewildered and shouting “whoa, whoa, whoa”, as one of the officers told him to “wake up”.

Video footage showed a disorientated Cooper being woken up by police (Northumbria Police)
Video footage showed a disorientated Cooper being woken up by police (Northumbria Police)

When Cooper appeared to ask what was happening, he was told: “You broke into a bar, man.”

He was cuffed and taken into custody and on Monday, Cooper, of Victoria Place, Sunderland, appeared before magistrates in South Tyneside.

He admitted burglary when and was jailed for 26 weeks.

After the case, Detective Constable Catherine Gibson, of Northumbria Police, said: “This burglary clearly proved to be tiring work for Cooper, and it’s safe to say he was brought back to the real world with a bump when awoken by our officers.”

Officers are continuing to investigate others thought to have been involved in the break-in.

Food and alcohol were stolen during the incident and the till was broken into, but it was empty, police said.

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