Jailed: CCTV shows thief damaging Superbowl arcade games to steal

Damien Rigby is now behind bars for a crime wave which saw him target two different Superbowl venues in Warrington and Widnes.

The travelling criminal, from Hindley, caused more than £4,000 worth of damage to machines in total.

Chester Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday, Tuesday, how the defendant attended Superbowl UK in Golden Square Shopping Centre on three separate occasions.

When in the premises, he was seen damaging and stealing from arcade machines during opening hours, just metres away from members of the public visiting the establishment.

The first in Warrington was on May 19 this year at around 2.15pm, when a total of £273 was stolen from two arcade machines.

As well as the cash stolen, the total cost of damage to the two machines was £1,195.

Two months later, on July 15, Rigby entered the same Warrington Superbowl and was captured on CCTV using a screwdriver to tamper with an arcade machine.

He emptied money totalling £309.50 into his pockets, and again caused damage worth £1,045.

At around 6.15pm on August 14, a determined Rigby returned to the location a third time and damaged three arcade machines, stealing a total of £178.30 and causing £1,485 in damages.

Less than two weeks later, on August 25, Rigby switched targets to another Superbowl UK location, this time at The Hive Leisure Park in Widnes.

Here, he stole a total of £95.20 from two arcade machines and caused £905 in damages.

Rigby, of Lancaster Road in Hindley, was subsequently arrested on Monday, September 30, after he was identified from CCTV enquiries.

Having been later charged with four counts of theft and four counts of criminal damage, he entered guilty pleas before the magistrates’ court and was jailed for six months.

Superbowl bowling alleys were targeted

On top of his sentence, the 38-year-old was also told he must pay back almost £5,500 in compensation, to account for the money he stole and the damage he caused.

The sentence was welcomed by inspector Lee Hillyard, of Cheshire Police, who said: “Rigby was completely brazen in his offending.

“He targeted premises during opening hours, just metres away from those who were enjoying time at the bowling alley.

“It is clear that he had absolutely no regard for others or for those he was stealing from, only wanting to get a bit of extra cash.

“But his efforts were to no avail. His offending was clearly captured on CCTV, leaving him with no choice but to plead guilty.

“Not only is he now behind bars for his crimes, but he will also have to pay back a hefty sum of money to cover both what he stole and the damage he caused to the arcade machines.

“This should serve as a reminder that crime really does not pay.”