A ROBBER watched CCTV footage of himself stealing a victim’s e-scooter in broad daylight, then told the interviewing officers it was not him.

This was despite being caught red-handed riding the scooter soon afterwards, while wearing the exact same clothing as the suspect in the footage.

Louis Herne, 19, claimed he earned £500 a week so did not need to rob anyone, and the person in the footage was not wearing glasses, which he always did.

The Shoebury teen will be behind bars for at least 19 months following the robbery of which happened outside Pitsea train station at around 6.30pm on Monday, April 5 of last year.

CCTV footage from outside the station showed Herne approach and talk to the victim, a man in his 20s, at the entrance to the station and then try robbing the man’s e-scooter.

A fracas ensued, which saw Herne was chased off by the victim, however, the sneaky teenager returned to the scene and ran off with the scooter which had been left on the floor during the chaos.

An alert was sent out to British Transport Police officers in the area who scramble into action to track down the criminal.

Less than an hour later, Herne was caught riding past the Tesco Extra in High Road, Pistea, less than half a mile away from the scene of the crime, on the stolen scooter and he was arrested.

In police interviews Herne made the wildly unbelievable claims he had not been responsible – despite being in possession of the stolen vehicle and being caught on camera in the same clothes.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Hayley Whyte said: “The fact he wasn’t wearing glasses clearly wasn’t enough to convince our officers into thinking we should be after someone else.

“From the CCTV to the fact he was caught still riding the scooter, it was very clear Herne was the man responsible for this robbery."

Herne, of Fraser Close, Shoebury, was jailed for three years and three months at Basildon Crown Court on Wednesday, April 27 after pleading guilty to robbery.