He walked into a bowling alley armed with a screwdriver - what he did next put him behind bars

A 'brazen' thief was caught on CCTV in a Warrington bowling alley stealing hundreds of pounds from arcade machines.

On three separate occasions, Damien Rigby, from Wigan, entered the Superbowl alley at the Golden Square Shopping Centre and was caught out after video footage showed him damaging and stealing money from machines in the arcade.

Carrying out the thefts just metres away from members of the public who were enjoying days out at the bowling alley, Rigby then made off with various amounts of cash during each visit.

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Rigby first struck on May 19. At around 2.15pm he entered the complex and stole £273 from two arcade machines. He damaged them in the process of accessing the cash box, costing £1,195.

Two months later, on July 15, Rigby entered the same Superbowl bowling alley and was captured on CCTV using a screwdriver to break into an arcade machine and empty money into his pockets. He caused a further £1,045 worth of damage and made off with £309.50.

He struck again on August 14, returning to the same arcade and damaging three machines, stealing a total of £178.30 and causing £1,485 in damages.

Less than two weeks later, on August 25, brazen Rigby targeted another Superbowl UK location, this time in The Hive Leisure Park, in Widnes. He stole a total of £95.20 from two arcade machines and caused £905 in damages.

Rigby, of Lancaster Road in Hindley, was subsequently arrested on September 30 following CCTV enquiries and charged with four counts of theft and four counts of criminal damage.

The 38-year-old appeared at Chester Magistrates’ Court on October 1 where he pleaded guilty to the offences and was sentenced to six months behind bars. He was also ordered to pay back almost £5,500 in compensation to account for the money he stole and the damages caused.

Inspector Lee Hillyard, of Cheshire Police, said: “Rigby was completely brazen in his offending, targeting premises during opening hours, just metres away from those who were enjoying time at the bowling alley. It’s clear he had absolutely no regard for others, or for those he was stealing from, only wanting to get a bit of extra cash.

“But his efforts were to no avail. His offending was clearly captured on CCTV, leaving him with no choice but to plead guilty.

“Not only is he now behind bars for his crimes, but he will also have to pay back a hefty sum of money to cover both what he stole and the damage he caused to the arcade machines. This should serve as a reminder that crime really does not pay.”