A THIEF who tried to break out of a supermarket after getting locked in during a theft spree has been jailed.

John Kidd hid in a stock room at the Scotmid store in Gorebridge, Midlothian, and waited for staff to leave for the night before going on to fill a rucksack full of cash and cigarettes.

But he found himself unable to get out of the supermarket after staff locked the fire exit, while the store’s security shutters would not budge. He then began to smash the store’s large front windows windows in a panicked bid to escape.

But his antics only set off the store’s alarm system and police raced to the scene to find the stricken thief still stuck inside with all the stolen goods.

Kidd, from Gorebridge, pled guilty to an amended charge of concealing himself in the store and stealing money and cigarettes on March 22 this year when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

The 35-year-old, who appeared in court from custody, was jailed for 14 months when he appeared before Sheriff Peter Braid yesterday.