Thieves called taxi for getaway car

Bungling thieves booked a taxi as their getaway car after stealing two TVs from Argos.

David Field and an accomplice called a cab then ran inside the store, picked up two widescreen sets and jumped in the back seat telling the cabbie to "drive".

But the men and another two accomplices who joined them in the taxi were foiled when Darren Renton, of Anglesey Cabs, told them: "Are you having a laugh?"



Darren added: "They told me to drive the car. I just said, 'Are you having a laugh?'. They really started to panic then, and started offering to make it worth my while, to pay me off. But I just told them to get out of the car."

Three of the thieves escaped when staff from the Holyhead store in north west Wales turned up and retrieved the TVs from the boot of the taxi, but Field was caught. The 18-year-old today pleaded guilty at Holyhead Magistrates Court to the theft of a television worth £279.

An Argos spokesman said: "Store colleagues intercepted a male and female who had attempted to leave without paying for their goods and exit the scene via a parked taxi car outside. Our store colleagues were able to recover the goods from the boot of the taxi and return them to the store. Argos takes this situation very seriously and we are currently working with the police to assist with their enquiries."