John Fletcher: thief caught waving and smiling at security camera while using stolen credit card is jailed

A thief who was captured smiling and waving at a security camera whilst using a stolen credit card has been jailed for two and a half years.

Kent Police launched an investigation after receiving several reports of thefts from gyms in Ashford and Eastbourne, in January and February of this year. John Fletcher, 50, had been raiding gym locker rooms while people were exercising - stealing £1,000 in cash and spending a further £2,000 on stolen credit cards.

Fletcher seemed to think he had gotten away with the crime - caught on CCTV boldly grinning and waving at the camera, with a stolen credit card clearly visible in his right hand. But police got hold of the footage.

Officers then studied other footage of Fletcher slipping through turnstiles in order to gain access to locker room areas, sometimes accompanied by accomplice Laura McCannan, 35, who would distract staff while he snuck inside. They also found further CCTV evidence of Fletcher in other shops where the cards had been used.

A car which police linked to the offences was then stopped near Tunbridge Wells on 24 February. Both Fletcher and McGannan were arrested.

Fletcher, from Bexhill-on-Sea, was charged with six counts of burglary and ten counts of fraud. He pleaded guilty to all counts and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court.

McGannan, from Winchelsea, admitted to five counts of burglary. She was given a six-month suspended sentence for the role she had played in assisting Fletcher.

Commenting on the sentencing, PC Michael Eeles, of the Kent Crime Squad, said: “CCTV showed Fletcher waving at a camera while he spent other people’s money at a supermarket.

“I am pleased the quick work of detectives led to be him being arrested a few days later and he is now in prison, unable to further trouble the public.”