A prolific till cash snatcher was jailed just two days after being arrested for targeting shops across Basildon.

Jake Crawley, 22, of no fixed address, has been locked up for 32 weeks after admitting seven charges of theft and one of attempted theft.

He was wanted by police after a spate of daylight thefts from newsagents and a petrol station, during which he pounced on the till and stole wads of cash.

On each occasion, he had approached the cashier to pay for a drink or sweets.

Sgt Ben Woollard, from the Basildon Proactive Team, arrested Crawley after he voluntarily rang officers with his whereabouts.

The Echo revealed a handful of notes were taken from the till in Martin newsagents, in Clay Hill Road, last Monday after a man approached the shop assistant to buy a lollipop worth 40p. Two days earlier, Crawley snatched £340 from a Martin shop, in Timberlog Lane, and even returned 24 hours later for a second go.

On Tuesday, he raided two shops within two hours. At 10.30am, he went to pay for a fizzy drink at the Co-op, in Butneys, and snatched £22 from the till.

An hour later, he stole £110 from the BP garage, in Eastmayne, using the same method.

Two days later, he was behind bars. At Basildon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, Crawley also admitted three other charges related to theft of meat from the same BP garage on Thursday, July 2, Saturday, July 4, and Tuesday, July 7.

PC Ben Gribble, also from the proactive team, said: “It’s a great result for our team.”

Magistrates ordered Crawley to pay a £180 court charge and an £80 victim surcharge.

He did not have to pay compensation.