A SHOPKEEPER who helped to catch a thief by posting his CCTV picture on Facebook said he should have been jailed for his crime.

Anthony Taaffe, aged 49, walked into the store room at Bargain Booze in Halliwell Road and stole £2,200 from owner Krishan Patel's jacket pocket.

Mr Patel, aged 25, downloaded Taaffe's picture from his CCTV and put the image on Facebook offering a £100 reward to anyone who knew him. He then contacted the police after someone recognised his picture and named him.

Mr Patel, who was set to use the money to buy goods at a cash and carry store, said: "I'm pleased that he has been brought to justice but it won't change much – I won't get the money back and he is still able to walk the streets. He should be locked up.

"People like me are the real victims of crimes — I don't work for a big company, it's a family business and I support my parents and my sister, so £2,200 is a lot of money. It was awful to hear that he spent it on drugs. I know I shouldn't have left the money in my coat but I never thought anyone would be so brazen and walk into the store room like that. I will definitely be more careful from now on.

"It upsets me that you play by the rules and people like that can commit crimes and not be punished properly."

Mr Patel, who has owned the shop for five years, checked the CCTV because Taaffe was acting suspiciously in the shop.

He said: "I can usually tell who the dodgy characters are straight away but when he came in I was on my own and very busy serving other customers.

"He was at the back of the shop and I caught him coming from the direction of the store room but I couldn't tell whether he'd actually been in there, but from the look on his face I could tell he was up to no good.

"He came up to the counter with a bottle of whiskey which he tried to sell to me. I said no and he left. I checked the CCTV and saw him loitering around so I checked my pockets and the envelope had gone. I called the police but I knew they probably wouldn't get very far so I decided to take matters into my own hands by posting his photo on facebook."

Taaffe, aged 49, of Chorley Old Road, admitted theft and on Monday he was given a nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, at Bolton Crown Court.

The court heard that Taaffe had a 35-year history of substance abuse.