ONE of two men responsible for a break-in at a Blackburn town centre hair salon has been jailed for 24 weeks.

Blackburn magistrates heard Scott McKay and his accomplice were caught on CCTV smashing a window and stealing cash and hair care products from Nigel’s Cutting Shop.

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McKay, 39, of St Peter Street, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to burglary, stealing half a leg of lamb from Farm Foods and assaulting a security officer who tried to detain him.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said security officer Mark Burn approached McKay after a member of staff saw him take the joint.

“He pulled the joint from his pocket and then pushed the guard who fell against a tree cutting his head,” said Miss Allan.

She said McKay and another man, who had been identified but not yet arrested, smashed the door of the hair salon before taking cash from the till and a quantity of stock. All offences were committed while McKay was subject to post-prison licence supervision.

“He can only be classed as a prolific offender who has 108 previous convictions for 248 previous offences, 134 of them theft related,” said Miss Allan.

Richard Prew, defending, said his client accepted the burglary tipped everything over the edge and he accepted custody would be inevitable.

“Following his release from prison in April he did very well, avoiding old acquaintances, avoiding drink and avoiding court,” said Mr Prew.

“He met an old flame who is a heavy drinker and he fell back into old habits. He was heavily under the influence of drink when he committed the offences.”

Nigel Womack, the owner of Nigel’s Cutting Shop, said: “This is a fantastic success story and the police did their job well.

“The thieves only got away with three packets of shampoo but that’s not the point, they smashed up the window and that’s going to cost me. These people aren’t going to get away with what they did and they deserve the punishment that they have been givem.

“I’ll be making sure we have extra security in place from now on even though we never leave cash on the premises over night.”