Burglar falls from ceiling four times while trying to make quick getaway after breaking into UK petrol station

  A clumsy burglar crashed down from the ceiling four times as he attempted to make a speedy getaway from a petrol station break-in. 

Footage shows Andrew Pickering, 50, raiding a service station in Ouston, Durham, before repeatedly wobbling on a stepladder in a haphazard bid to flee the scene through a hole in the roof. 

In the CCTV clips, released by Durham Constabulary, Pickering clambers up the ladder used to make his entry before making dramatic falls back to the ground four times – before eventually opting to exit via the door. 

Police said Pickering carried out the determined escape in the early hours of of 21 October, racking up approximately £3,219 worth of loss and damage as he stumbled across the station. 

In the video footage, he can be seen clumsily entering through the roof before making his way onto the shop floor and breaking a screen covering the shop’s cigarettes, stuffing them into a bag. He then dashes back into the room where he entered, apparently planning a daring exit back up the stepladder. 

But his escape is thwarted as the burglar is caught on camera climbing the ladder and falling from the ceiling four times – each time dropping the stolen cigarettes on the floor around him.

Following the fourth attempt, Pickering, of Stanley, took the more everyday – and safer – way out and decided to use a door. He was then seen ransacking the shop floor, knocking displays onto the floor and leaving with several bottles from behind the till. 

A forensic examination of the scene revealed a significant amount of blood, later confirmed to belong to Pickering, according to officers. 

Police also shared footage of Pickering’s interview, during which he haphazardly knocked over his glass of water. 

He appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court last week, where he was charged with two counts of burglary and was sentenced to 12 months in prison. 

An accomplice, 46-year-old Daniel Reay, of no fixed abode, was also charged with burglary and handed a community order, requiring him to complete alcohol treatment and rehabilitation activity. 

In a statement, Durham Constabulary said: “It’s not about how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up.”

The Independent