'Worm burglar' jailed for spate of thefts from pub fruit machines

A career criminal dubbed the ‘Worm Burglar’ by police has been jailed for a string of Mission Impossible-style thefts from pubs. Leigh Cassidy, 47, broke into pubs after ‘reconnaissance missions’ then crawled or slid along the floor on his chest to evade the motion-sensing beams of alarm systems, a court heard. He then moved fruit machines to shield him from the beams, allowing him to break into the machines and steal cash undetected. CCTV footage at one of nine pubs Cassidy targeted in a 16-month spree has been released by police.



He’s seen slowly sliding along the floor to a fruit machine before leaving the same way. Cassidy, of Gorton, Manchester, escaped with a total of £7,500 in the raids and caused damage estimated at £5,840. He pleaded guilty to nine counts of burglary and was jailed for four years, six months by a judge at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court who blasted his ‘appalling’ criminal record of 181 previous offences, leading to 47 convictions. Philip Barnes, prosecuting, said burglaries took place in the early hours from March 2013 when fruit machines were full.



CCTV cameras in some cases were covered with bin bags. The court heard that in the majority of cases, landlords or tenants were living upstairs. Staff tips, charity collection boxes and booze were also stolen. Mr Barnes said: “The method of operation involved crawling or sliding through pubs below the ‘line of sight’ of the alarm system beams, and turning machines to shield the thief from the beam picking him up and triggering the alarm.” One pub, the Wilfred Wood in Hazel Grove, Stockport, was burgled three times by Cassidy. Others were targeted in Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Chorlton and Levenshulme. One pub break-in happened in Derby.


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Cassidy deposited cash the day after each burglary at a bank in Manchester, using a coin-counting machine to get exact sums, the court heard. He was arrested last May and his partner told police that he was responsible - and that she knew about his worm-like burglary method. Det Con Adele Coulter said: “On each occasion, Cassidy broke into a pub and in an effort to avoid the alarm sensors, he crawled through the pub on his front until he got to his target – hence his nickname, the ‘Worm Burglar’. Thankfully, we received information he had been involved in a burglary using the same tactic and we managed to link him with the remaining crimes.”