British police follow white paint footprints to burglar's home

EASINGTON COLLIERY, England, April 19 (UPI) -- British police busted a bungling burglar who officers said left a trail of white paint footprints from the scene of the crime to his own front door.

The Durham Constabulary said investigators responded to a break-in at a second-hand store in the town of Easington Colliery and they soon discovered the culprit had spilled a tin of white paint inside the store and apparently walked through the spill.

The officers followed the trail of white footprints all the way to the home of Andrew Mark Connor, 27, who they said had white paint on his shoes and stolen goods from the store in his back yard.

Police said Connor was arrested within 30 minutes of the crime being reported Feb. 17.

Connor appeared before magistrates this month and was handed a community rehabilitation order and ordered to pay $144 compensation to the owners of the store.

"Some offenses of burglary are more challenging to solve than others, in this case the offender left us some very obvious clues. His house was close to the shop and the footwear impressions led us easily to where he had hidden the stolen property," Detective Constable Darren Cresswell said.