A Stockport man has been jailed following a burglary at a Chester petrol station.

Stefan Moores, 36, of Blackberry Lane, Brinnington, had breached the wall of a Sainsbury's petrol station on Caldy Valley road and subsequently stolen around £11,000 in cigarettes.

He was linked to the burglary by a receipt left at the scene.

Moores was given a 40-month sentence at Chester Crown Court on Friday 17 April.

The break-in was discovered by staff in the morning of 18 February 2026 - it transpired that, overnight, Moores had removed metal wall plates, bricks and breezeblocks to gain entry.

The receipt left at the scene directed investigating officers at Cheshire Constabulary to a shop in Stockport.

Enquiries at that shop revealed that the individual who had bought the items had taken the shopping to the home address of Moores in a bag for life.

Moores was spotted leaving his address at 10pm on 17 February – the night of the burglary – and was carrying the same bag for life which his shopping had been dropped off in.

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When he returned home around 6am on 18 February, he came without his bag for life.

This piece of evidence was further corroborated by the fact that footprints left at the scene matched Moores' own footwear.

Police Constable James Wright said: "Moores kindly left a piece of important evidence at the scene of his crime, leading our officers straight to him.

"He committed the offence while on prison licence after being released from prison for a similar offence committed in Chester in 2023.

"I welcome the substantial custodial sentence handed to him which reflects the severity of his crime and the fact that he has clearly not learnt his lesson.

"I hope the sentence reassures the community that we are committed to tackling crimes against businesses, including burglaries, head-on."

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