Prolific criminal recalled to prison after police discover him hiding in chest of drawers
A prolific criminal was found by police hiding in a chest of drawers – which he had modified to sneak into whenever officers came knocking.
West Midlands Police officers paid a visit to the 38-year-old's house in Kingstanding on Thursday morning(2), because he was wanted on recall to prison.
His partner and father were at the home – but the man, who has not been named by police, appeared to have vanished.
But police weren't convinced and carried out a more detailed search of the property. Behind clothing and sheets in a bedroom, there was a chest of drawers which looked like it was jammed shut by clothing.
As officers forced the drawers open – they found him hiding within the unit.
He had hollowed out a section of the bottom of the chest of drawers so he could hide himself away.
The man, who has a history of shoplifting convictions, even admitted to officers that he had managed to hide from there on three previous occasions.
PC Paul Harris, who was one of the officers who found the suspect, said: "It is easy to see how this hiding place had been missed before.
"It has clearly had a lot of effort put into it, but it just goes to show that if you are wanted by the police, your time is always running out and we will find you.”
The man, who had been released from a sentence for a public order offence, had failed to attend probation meetings and is now being returned to prison.
