A 19-year-old received jail time for stealing a PS5 from student housing in Nottingham and other thefts.
The break-in happened on December 5th around 3:30 AM, a Thursday. CCTV showed Alali sneaking in. He followed a student inside York House on Mansfield Road. He asked a student to use their key fob, getting him into a shared area.
Alali then left with the PS5 hidden under his coat, just minutes later. Police caught Alali two weeks later after recognizing him from the CCTV footage.
The investigation linked him to more thefts. He stole beer from the Student Union costing £40 on November 21st. On December 4th, he stole Red Bull costing £36 from Sainsbury’s in Wheeler Gate.
He hit another Sainsbury’s on Carlton Street eight days later, stealing £19.25 of Red Bull. Alali also stole coats from H&M in the Victoria Centre on December 16th. The coats were worth £54.
He had 45 past offenses, mostly theft, and police found stolen items at his home. Alali admitted the burglary and shop thefts. He appeared in court on February 14th.
The court sentenced him to 23 weeks in jail. His address listed was Alfred Street North. A police officer said he was happy, noting Alali is a known shoplifter. Hopefully, he will now get the help he needs.
Recently, a report praised Nottinghamshire Police for handling retail crime effectively. The report looked at police responses to these crimes in which shoplifting and violence figured.
The British Retail Consortium studied police forces, with over 200 big retailers as members. They also have thousands of small stores involved. Nottinghamshire, Hampshire, and Manchester police did best.