February 4, 2020 11.43 am This story is over 48 months old

‘Catch me if you can’ burglar baits police on own wanted appeal

He has now been sentenced

A burglar who baited police on his own wanted appeal with a “Catch me if you can” comment has been sentenced to five years in jail.

Oliver Hargreives, 29, of Valway, Hook, in the East Riding, pleaded guilty to the charges of burglary and of assaulting an emergency worker.

Humberside Police circulated a wanted man appeal in November 2019 when Hargreives breached his prison bail conditions. In the comments of the social media appeal Hargreives said ‘Catch me if you can’, so police traced his phone’s location and arrested him.

Hargreives, who also assaulted two police officers, was sentenced when he appeared at Grimsby Crown Court on Friday, January 31.

He was sentenced to three years and nine months for a burglary on Trafalgar Park in Waltham on November 3, 2019. The house was ransacked and a large quantity of jewellery was stolen, leaving the homeowners devastated.

Hargreives was also sentenced to 12 months consecutive imprisonment for assaulting a police officer causing actual bodily harm (ABH). He also received three months for assaulting a second police officer when he was detained at Birchin Way custody facility on November 23.

Detective Inspector Kerry Bull said: “The media appeal attracted a lot of attention and Hargreives himself posted a comment saying ‘Catch me if you can’. We traced his phone’s location and arrested him!

“Oliver Hargreives has frequently flouted the law and once he was out of prison continued his life of crime by committing the burglary on Trafalgar Park.

“I am pleased to see the judge hand Oliver Hargreives this lengthy sentence, not only to give his victims some assurance that he will be behind bars for years but it also serves as a reminder to offenders that if they assault our emergency workers and officers we will do everything we can to bring them to justice.”