Raids on a bar and store were solved after a convict left evidence at his former Chesterfield home.
Lee Knowles - currently serving a long jail term for house burglaries - left empty cash till drawers at the address.
Town magistrates heard that they were found when the property in South Place, off Markham Road, was emptied.
Knowles, 31, took a till containing £314 from Sports Direct in Middle Pavement last November 2, shortly before he was locked up.
Police visited him in prison and he told them he saw a rear door was ajar and he sneaked in and took a drawer.
“He then admitted the further burglary at Pacific bar,” said Jonathan Cattell, prosecuting.
Jon Barber, for Knowles, said: “Police were contacted because empty cash tills were found at his former address when it was cleared out. Fingerprint analysis led to a hit.
“CCTV showed someone hide the drawer behind a large plant in Pacific and return later and remove it.”
Knowles admitted the Sports Direct burglary and asked for the other offence to be taken into consideration.
He received an 18-week prison term, to run concurrently with his existing sentence which ends in August next year.
Comments