Watch: Burglar tries to evade CCTV by crawling on all fours

Shamsul Islam stole thousands of pounds after breaking into seven different businesses in Greater Manchester

A burglar who was filmed crawling around pubs and restaurants in an attempt to evade CCTV cameras has been jailed.
Shamsul Islam, 40, stole thousands of pounds in cash and property after breaking into seven different businesses while crawling on all fours.
The burglar seemingly used the technique in an unsuccessful effort to avoid being captured on CCTV. However, footage compiled from the different businesses he burgled in Bury, Greater Manchester, show Islam crawling on all fours and inching across the floor on his stomach and elbows while in different venues.
Islam was caught last month after a restaurant owner received a phone alert that someone was inside his premises.
His burglary spree began on Aug 19 along Heathfield Road in Bury when he stole a coat from a car before fleeing the scene, dropping two disposable e-cigarettes in the process.
Investigators were able to link the e-cigarettes to his DNA, which was already on the police database from a previous burglary.
On Aug 28 at 4am, he broke into a pub and was captured on CCTV crawling along the property’s floor to the bar, where he took £200 from the till.
Three days later, he broke into a hair and beauty salon while the owner was working, but apologised and ran away after a tenant upstairs heard him smash the window.
He was finally caught after he broke into a restaurant on Sefton Street, Whitefield.
The owner of the restaurant was woken at 2.15am after his phone alerted him to activity on the CCTV system inside the bar area.
Footage shows Islam crawling over the bar to reach the restaurant till, before he was disturbed by the intruder alarm and ran away.
A small trace of blood was located by crime scene investigators as Islam injured himself getting out of the premises through the smashed window.
He was found guilty of burglary at Minshull Street Crown Court last week and was jailed for four years.
Pc William Loughran, from Greater Manchester Police, said after his sentencing: “Islam had absolutely no regard as he broke into small businesses in the Whitefield area of Bury and stole from owners who were rightly shocked when they saw Islam ransacking their livelihoods.
“Islam is a career criminal who had absolutely no right to be so brazenly entering the premises and taking what isn’t his.”