Faversham: Notorious thief Billy Bird captured by police, found hiding under bed

The wild moment a prolific criminal was discovered in a strange hiding place has been captured on police video.

Notorious thief Billy Bird, 27, had been evading police after a two-week stealing spree which saw him target several stores in Faversham and Ashford in the UK.

Bird’s efforts began on August 19 when he walked out of Tesco supermarket in Faversham with a bottle of whiskey concealed in his hoodie before stealing more than $400 worth of alcohol from Sainsbury’s, another supermarket, that same day.

The following week, on August 27, he nicked about $150 worth of groceries from an Ashford Co-op and made a return trip that same day, stealing even more.

Later that night, he moved his efforts to the Faversham Tesco and stole more than $400 worth of booze. The next day Bird fuelled up his car without paying.

On September 4, he stole three bottles of vodka from a Faversham Sainsbury’s, bringing the total value of his stolen goods haul to more than $1100.

The next day Kent police tracked Bird down at a property in Whiting Crescent. Now a video of the moment officers found him hiding inside a piece of furniture has gone viral.

See the video in the player above

Body-cam footage posted to Facebook by Kent police shows officers talking to a bed.

“There’s someone hiding in a bed at the moment,” one officer said.

“How are we getting you out of here?” another officer asked.

“What’s best, are we lifting it, or are you coming out?”

After Bird failed to respond, police began to pull the rickety frame upward, revealing the thief.

“Oh it’s Billy,” a police officer said.

He had contorted himself into a ball, squeezing inside the hollowed out bedframe.

Bird was arrested and charged with seven counts of theft from a shop as well as driving without a licence or insurance and trespassing on a railway line.

Later, Bird pleaded guilty to all of the offences.

On October 16 he was handed an eight-week jail sentence and a three-year criminal behaviour order which prevents him from entering all co-op stories in Kent as well as a list of other grocery shops and news agencies, many of which he stole from.

Sergeant Christopher Hill said Bird’s crimes had caused disruption and loss to several businesses in the Kent area.

“Thanks to the swift work of our officers, he was identified, arrested, and brought before the courts,” he said.

“The Criminal Behaviour Order imposed will help protect local retailers from further offending and sends a clear message that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.”