A shoplifter at Dublin Airport boarded his flight as normal with hundreds of euros worth of stolen goods in his possession.
He thought he had gotten away with his crime, only to be arrested and searched at his final destination.
The thief was travelling through Terminal 1 of the airport when gardai were alerted to the robbery which had taken place.
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Staff working in the Loop were able to provide officers with a detailed description of the man and within minutes were able to point him out on CCTV footage.
Having stopped the man in his tracks, it was quickly discovered that he had already boarded his flight, leaving the gate with a haul of stolen items.
While the culprit may have been chuffed to get away with their sly robbery, quick-thinking gardai were one step ahead of him and contacted police at Gatwick Airport.
They intercepted the thief on arrival in the UK and the stolen goods arrived back in Dublin by lunchtime the same day.
It was later confirmed that the stolen items were worth more than €660 after a search was conducted by Sussex Police.
Then, with the help of the Ryanair crew on flight FR115 they were returned to Ireland safe and sound.
Taking to social media to confirm the story, a garda spokesperson wrote: "When the Garda got to the Boarding Gate, the plane was in taxi with the person onboard having stolen at least €260 worth of goods.
"But not giving up - the Garda reached our Sussex Police colleagues in Gatwick Airport to provide the person’s image before the flight landed and they would disembark.
"After Gatwick Police intercepted the person and conducted a search, it was discovered that she had stolen more than €660 worth of items from stores at Dublin Airport.
"The crew of Ryanair flight FR115 returned the items to Dublin Airport and they were back in the retail stores affected by lunchtime."
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