Shoplifter’s Barber Shop Escape Plan Backfires Big Time
When a 46-year-old spotted police heading his way, he made a beeline for a barber shop—despite having no hair to cut. Big mistake.
Within seconds, officers caught him on Radford Road with a shopping bag stuffed full of stolen hair products. Turns out, he’d nicked 16 bottles from Boots in Beeston just days earlier.
Inside Nottingham’s Secret Crime-Busting Squad
This arrest was just one win for Operation Compass, Nottingham city centre’s covert cop squad. These plain-clothed warriors have already made over 130 arrests this year, disrupting drug dealers, knife carriers, and professional shoplifters who come into the city to cause trouble.
Dressed in casual gear—jeans, hoodies, trainers—with police radios hidden in their headphones and cuffs in their rucksacks, they blend in perfectly. Their undercover edge means crooks don’t spot them until it’s too late.
Cracking Down on Crime All Over Nottingham
- A violent offender breaching electronic tag rules was snared within three minutes of the team hitting the streets on March 25.
- On Sherwood Street, drug users were caught with crack cocaine and heroin during searches.
- Outside Old Market Square, officers found heroin and needles on known public nuisances.
- At Weekday Cross, a 21-year-old was busted carrying a hefty kitchen knife, while his mate smuggled cannabis in a jewellery box—claimed to be a gift.
- A man caught smoking mamba in a phone box was arrested for flouting a Criminal Behaviour Order banning him from the city centre.
Sergeant Pothecary’s Warning to Criminals
“Our goal is to make Nottingham a city where criminals simply can’t operate. We want people to enjoy what the city offers and for businesses to flourish,” said Sergeant Jonathan Pothecary, Operation Compass leader.
“We constantly target those who try to ruin that, sending a clear message: carry on and face the consequences. And just because you can’t always see us, doesn’t mean we aren’t there.”
