Bald shoplifter caught evading arrest while trying to get haircut in Nottingham barber shop

One of Nottingham's most prolific shoplifters has been arrested after an undercover police operation.

The shoplifter was caught by plain-clothed officers after sneaking into a barber shop for a haircut, despite having no hair, to avoid arrest by uniformed officers.

Non-uniformed officers escorted the 46-year-old out the barbers' onto Radford Road, and asked him to explain why he had a shopping bag full of hair products.

He admitted to stealing 16 bottles from Boots in Beeston on March 25.

"Operation Compass"

It's part of Nottinghamshire Police's Operation Compass - a plain-clothed and uniformed police team based in Nottingham city centre.

Plain-clothed officers could be dressed in jeans, shorts, hoodies, and trainers.

Their backpacks will contain handcuffs, and their headphones hooked up to police radio.

Uniformed officers also support the team in a marked van.

Within three minutes of the Operation Compass team being out on March 25, they had located a man who was breaking his electronic tag conditions, and saw the shoplifter acting strangely.

He was then taken to the police's Radford Road custody suite.

The team of non-uniformed police officers have made more than 130 arrests this year by targeting shoplifters, drug dealers, knife carriers and those causing anti-social behaviour.

Sergeant Jonathan Pothecary, who leads the team, said:

"This is why Op Compass is such a good team – it knows all the faces of those coming into the city to commit crime and we will continuously disrupt their day.

"Sometimes they will say ‘why don’t you leave us alone?’ and we say: ‘we will if you stop coming into Nottingham to commit crime.’

"We enforce but we also engage.

"Some of this crime is fuelled by drug addiction and we will offer them support but if they don’t want to take it then we will act."

What other offences have teams on Operation Compass come across?

Operation Compass officers in North Sherwood Street found a group of men smoking drugs from a pipe.

They found a quantity of crack cocaine hidden in one of the group’s waistbands, along with heroin after telling officers he had no more on him.

In another instance, two other men, known for causing harassment, alarm, and distress to members of the public, were stopped and searched just outside Old Market Square.

Officers found heroin and a needle in a tin.

After stopping a suspicious group of young men on Weekday Cross, officers found a 21-year-old man concealing a large kitchen knife.

He was arrested for carrying a bladed article in a public place.

They also found his friend carrying cannabis in a jewellery box, claiming it was a present for his girlfriend.

On the way to the custody suite, another man, 42, was also stopped for breaching his Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from the city centre.

'Our aim is to make the city a place where criminals just can’t operate.'

Sergeant Pothecary, from Nottinghamshire Police said:

"Our aim is to make the city a place where criminals just can’t operate.

"We want people to come into Nottingham and enjoy the many facilities it has to offer and for businesses to thrive.

"If we continue to target those who are determined to ruin that then eventually they should realise they can’t continue down this path and not expect the consequences.

"Also, it is important for the public to know that just because you can’t always see us does not mean we aren’t there," he added.

"Op Compass is a prime example of where plain clothed officers and uniformed officers are working together to ensure criminals are kept out of the city.”