Bungling ram raider used shopping basket to make off with loot after bag broke

CCTV footage reveals the moment a bungling thief was forced to use a shopping basket to make off with his loot during a ram-raid.

Kayne Palmer, 33, plundered an off-licence in Nottingham after reversing a stolen van into it during a two-week burglary spree between October and November 2023.

He had found the keys to the van after breaking into a nearby house, where he also stole a handbag and a bank card.

The shop’s owners, who were asleep upstairs during the early-morning raid, were jolted awake by the sound of the storefront being smashed open.

Meanwhile, Palmer was busy stuffing nearly £8,000 worth of cigarettes and bottles of booze into a bag, unaware it had a hole in the bottom.

After realising many of the cigarette packets had fallen out, he can be seen in the footage frantically scooping them into one of the wire baskets provided for customers.

Palmer was jailed for seven years on Friday (Picture: SWNS)

He then loaded the store’s till, containing £3,239 in cash, into the van before driving off.

The owners called police but by the time they arrived Palmer had gone, leaving behind only thousands of pounds’ worth of damage.

During the getaway, Palmer ‘crashed into street furniture, people’s property, and narrowly missed pedestrians, showing a blatant disregard for the safety of members of the public’, detectives said.

He remained at large for another 17 days, after which he carried out five burglaries and one attempted burglary in the space of 24 hours.

The 33-year-old was caught when officers spotted him hopping over fences after breaking into a house.

He was jailed on Friday for seven years after pleading guilty to admitted eight burglaries and aggravated vehicle taking.

He also admitted multiple counts of dangerous driving, attempted burglary, conspiring to steal motor vehicles, assault, theft, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

Detective Inspector Julian Eminson-Ferry of Nottinghamshire Police said: ‘He didn’t hide his offending and openly showed his face during the burglaries he committed.

‘This showed his desperation and flippancy about the offences he carried out, regardless of the detrimental impact on his victims.’

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