A burglar was caught when detectives found his fingerprints on a bowl in which he made himself a meal after breaking into student flats.
Paul Johnson, of Forster Street in the city, had been caught on CCTV entering the student accommodation in Queens Road on April 9 this year.
The 50-year-old entered the flats, opened a number of parcels in the reception and made his way into an office area.
Here Johnson searched the cupboards, opened a tin of cod roe - the unfertilised eggs of the female fish - and mixed it with some red cabbage in a bowl.
After tucking in, police say he left the bowl on a chair in the reception and exited the property in the early hours of the morning.
However, he took no items from the flats.
Forensics teams managed to extract his fingerprint from the bowl, which eventually led to his arrest.
Detective Sergeant Lee Cattell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “It was a great collective effort, involving numerous departments, which helped us to identify Johnson, secure the evidence and bring him to justice.
“I hope the fact that he is now behind bars offers some reassurance to victims and our communities that Nottinghamshire Police is committed to tackling and reducing burglaries and taking criminals like Johnson off our streets.”
Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, June 2, Johnson was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading guilty to a charge of burglary.
