A SHIPLEY have-a-go hero said he acted on instinct to catch a thief who had grabbed cash from the till of a nearby shop.

Barry Cooper, who runs Perkin’s Jewellers, in the town’s Arndale Centre, heard a distress call over the Shop Link radio from Liz Little, who runs The Little Stationery Shop.

“I saw the man described running past the shop and legged it after him,” said Mr Cooper. “I was so angry that someone could come into Shipley from outside and steal from small businesses. It’s disgusting. That was not his money to take and I wanted to get it back for Liz. I just acted on instinct.”

The man Mr Cooper apprehended, 44-year-old Christopher Bower, of Glenroyd Avenue, Low Moor, Bradford, appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to theft.

The court was told that Mr Cooper grabbed hold of Bower but backed off when the thief pretended he had a knife.

Prosecutor Laura McBride said Bower grabbed £60 from the till at The Little Stationery Shop, in Market Street, and ran off.

She said Mr Cooper chased Bower along Dale Street and Sunny Bank. He grabbed hold of the defendant and told him to give him the money. Bower gave him some back but then told Mr Cooper he had a knife.

Bower ran off again and Mr Cooper followed. A police officer then appeared and arrested the defendant. The money was recovered.

Bower said he had not intended to steal when he went into the shop but saw the owner was distracted and took the opportunity.

The court heard he had 52 previous convictions for 139 offences, 93 of them being theft. He was in breach of a community order and a conditional discharge imposed for similar offences.

A probation service spokesman said the defendant was using heroin and crack cocaine.

Bower’s solicitor, Philippa Murray, said her client maintained he did not mention a knife, did not pretend he had one, or threaten Mr Cooper.

Miss Murray said the theft was unplanned and opportunistic.

Bower was sentenced to a high-level community order, with a nine month Drug Rehabilitation Requirement, a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, and a three-month electronically monitored curfew between 6pm and 6am. Chairman of the Bench Andrew Galliford-Yates told Bower the sentence was a direct alternative to custody and he must comply with probation.