A beauty salon worker turned detective after her bag was stolen from the shop where she works.

Blackburn magistrates heard the victim scoured CCTV from nearby shops and was able pick up Joshua Whalley carrying her bag.

Whalley was later arrested but none of the property stolen was recovered.

Whalley, 24, of Parkinson Street, Burnley, pleaded guilty to theft of the bag, worth £300, which contained a £1,200 iPhone, AirPods, cash and bank cards, and also admitted fraudulent use of the cards on two occasions.

He additionally pleaded guilty to burglary at Emmazing Gifts in Keirby Walk, Burnley, with intent to steal.

He was jailed for 26 weeks and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £156 on release.

Bilal Saeed, prosecuting, said the owner of Emmazing Gifts contacted police to say someone had broken into his shop and was still inside.

Officers arrested Whalley inside the shop. He said he wasn’t the person who had broken in.

The handbag theft happened after the salon worker turned up at work and put her bag down near the counter.

When she was noticed it was missing she made her own enquiries and was able to provide the police with CCTV footage of the culprit and they were able to identify Whalley.

Mark Williams, mitigating, said his client had not forced entry to Amazing Gifts.

“He was homeless and wandering the streets and came across the insecure premises,” said Mr Williams.

“Addiction to both drink and drugs is ruining his life without a shadow of doubt.”