Two car criminals gave themselves away when one of them was arrested wearing a Nike rucksack stolen from one of the three BMWs they had just broken into.

Police were called at about 2.40am on Monday morning after a man had seen two youths trying to open door handles in Beaumont Drive before heading into Portland Close, Worcester Park.

Behind Sherbrooke Way officers found a BMW with its interior light on, its glovebox open and the contents spread over the passenger seat.

O'Neil and Watson could then be heard by officers climbing over fence panels in gardens along Portland Close and Beaumont Drive.

After being tracked by a police dog Lucas O’Neil and James Watson, aged 19, were both arrested in a back garden in Longfellow Road.

Police discovered the youths had broken into BMWs behind Sherbrooke Way and on a driveway in Beaumont Drive.

Included in their haul was a backpack containing a white towel which had been stolen from one of the vehicles.

And officers found a mobile phone belonging to 20-year-old O’Neil in a nearby garden.

O’Neil and Watson, of Tramway Path, Mitcham, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft each at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

They were each sentenced to 12 weeks in prison.


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