A CROSS-border criminal who stole jackets from a shop in Blackburn while his getaway driver waited outside has been jailed following an investigation.

Christopher McLaughlin entered the Go Outdoors store in Bank Top, Blackburn, at 9.30am on Tuesday, May 17, and picked up six RAB jackets.

While a member of staff was distracted, 33-year-old McLaughlin ran out with the jackets with a total value of £1,200, before getting into a waiting Seat Ibiza outside the store.

The vehicle was stopped at 4.30pm more than 20 miles away in Lancaster later the same day and the jackets were recovered.

McLaughlin, of Bower Street, Carlisle, was arrested and later charged with theft from a shop and conviction of an offence while a community order is in force.

He appeared before magistrates yesterday (May 19) where he was sentenced to 26 weeks imprisonment and ordered to pay a £128 victim surcharge.

Sergeant Steve Dundon, of the Blackburn with Darwen Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “I hope this case and subsequent sentence acts as a warning to anybody who is thinking of travelling into Blackburn to commit crime.

"We are committed to ensuring that Blackburn remains a safe place to live work and shop and we will robustly target anybody who decides to commit crime in the area and put them before the courts.

“I would like to praise my colleagues for their roles in quickly arresting Mclaughlin, recovering the stolen items and gathering the evidence which led to his conviction.”

A 23-year-old woman from Carlisle charged in connection with the investigation is due to appear at Lancaster Magistrates' Court on July 6.