Watch: Public help officer arrest jewellery thief

A police officer has thanked members of the public who helped him apprehend and arrest a jewellery thief.

Essex Police's PC Ryan McNamara arrested James Happer, 51, as he ran from Finery and Co jewellers in Saffron Walden's King Street on 7 March.

He had £30,970 worth in gold and diamond earrings, rings and a bangle from a display cabinet.

Happer, of Longcroft Rise, Loughton, admitted a burglary offence and assault of an emergency worker. He was given an 18-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, at Chelmsford Crown Court last week.

"One of the original principles of policing is that the police are the public and the public are the police, and that was certainly the case on that day," said PC McNamara.

The sentence included a drug rehabilitation requirement for six months, a rehabilitation activity requirement for up to 25 days and 19 sessions in a thinking skills programme.

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