A MAN arrested seconds before he was due to fly out of the country after he broke into his employer's shop and stole £19,000 has been jailed.

Tajinderpal Singh, 48, of Beaconsfield Road, Southall pleaded guilty at Isleworth Crown Court to burglary and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Police were originally called to a convenience store in Feltham at by a member of staff, who, on turning up for work, discovered the shop had been broken into. The owner confirmed cash was missing.

CCTV showed the suspect breaking in and making off with the money.

Singh, who had been working at the shop for only a couple of weeks, was identified by the owner - despite his face being covered - due to the fact he had a pronounced limp, which was evident on the footage.

Police discovered Singh was booked on a flight to Delhi that same night with a one-way ticket.

They got to Heathrow just as Singh was due to board the plane.

Following his arrest Singh was charged the next day and appeared into custody Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on Friday, 30 January.

Det Con Darren Young said: "This was an extremely fast-moving investigation.

Not only did we manage to apprehend him the same day but the whole case has been concluded in just over two weeks."