The headless thief: bungling Northampton burglar improvised after forgetting to cover his face

Having realised he was being filmed, the oriental supermarket raider pulled his coat over his head...

Police are appealing for witnesses to the break-in at the Da Oriental Supermarket in Sheep Street, at around 2.43am yesterday (Tuesday, July 4).

The dark-haired man broke a small window at the premises at about 1am, eyewitnesses reported, before returning again later to crawl in through the small opening.

Shop manager Dar Norris arrived at the premises at about 7am yesterday morning to find only £70 taken from the till, but around £250 of damage done to the tills and the window.

...But then struggled to see what he was doing.

But without realising, all of the dippy burglar actions had been captured on CCTV.

After crawling through the window and stumbling behind the till, at one point the man can be seen turning to the camera and pulling his short jacket over his head.

However, the new disguise meant the raider could barely keep control of the till, dropping it on the floor before scurrying around for some dropped change.

Manager Dar Norris, said: "When I came in for the delivery I saw the money from the till was all over the floor, where he had tried to steal the till.

On entering the shop, the man looked straight at the camera.

"He climbed into the shop, but you can see his face on the camera and everything.

"As soon as he sees the camera, you can see him trying to pull his jacket up."

Owner Gordon Robinson, added: "He wasn''t wearing any gloves either so his prints are all over the till."

Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident yesterday. If you saw a dark haired man wearing a short brown jacket acting suspiciously in Sheep Street at around 1am and just before 3am, call the force on 101.