Brazen thief who posed as customer to steal £40,000 worth of designer watches jailed

A BRAZEN thief who stole £40,000 worth of designer watches by trying them on before rushing out of the door has been jailed.

Richard Daniel Wilson struck two jewellery stores in London by posing as a customer.

The first incident was captured on CCTV which showed Wilson, 27, asking to try on luxury timepieces for sale.

Footage shows the shop assistant lay out two watches on a display mat – an Audemars Piquet worth £17,950 and a Rolex Daytona worth £6,750.

Wilson tries on the Audemars and feigns interest in the Rolex as the woman reads out details from a laptop.

Suddenly he gets to his feet, puts his finger to his mouth and says “shush” then rushes for the door with both watches as the shocked assistant gives chase.

He struck a jeweller at the Royal Exchange on Threadneedle Street in the City of London just after 10am on June 20.

Three weeks later Wilson used the same tactics to steal a £14,000 Rolex from Goldsmiths jewellery in Watford, Herts.

He asked to try it on before telling staff: "I like this, I am going to have it” and ran out of the store."

Wilson, of Paddington, central London, was identified and charged with both offences after police released CCTV of the first raid.

He pleaded to three counts of theft and was jailed for 12 months at St Albans Crown Court on September 15.

Detective Constable Joe Farrell from the City of London Police said: “These were blatant and audacious thefts which Wilson thought he could get away with but he was proved wrong as we were able to quickly identify him as the man responsible and bring him before the courts.

“We’d like to thank all the media and members of the public who helped us identify Wilson from our public appeal, and we welcome the sentence given to Wilson today by the Judge and hope it acts as a deterrent.”

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