A dozy burglar accidentally filmed himself raiding a lock-up when he tried to activate the torch on his phone – but switched on the CAMERA instead.
Grant Nanson, 21, stole a Mini, a Vauxhall Astra and a motorbike when he raided a commercial unit late at night.
But the dopey thief put himself in the frame when he tried to use the phone’s torch feature to see what he was doing – and inadvertently filmed the whole break-in.
Police later arrested Nanson at his home in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, where they discovered the incriminating footage.
Nanson admitted burglary and a separate offence of affray and was jailed for 11 months at Newcastle Crown Court.
Graham O’Sullivan, prosecuting, told the court: “Police searched his home and found the iPhone, on which he had inadvertently recorded himself committing the burglary whilst trying to turn on the phone’s torch.”
The two cars, valued at #11,000, were recovered, but a motorbike, worth #500, was never found.
An Audi A4 was also damaged while the stolen vehicles were being taken away.
Barry Robson, defending, said that there were probably other people involved in the offence and called it the most ‘inept’ burglary he had ever seen.
Nanson was jailed for nine months for the affray, during which he and his father, James Nanson, 42, used a baseball bat to attack two men.
He was also jailed for two months for the burglary, and the sentences will run consecutively.
James Nanson was given nine months for the affray, but Judge Robert Adams suspended that sentence for 18 months.