Moment bungling Scheme star is caught with fingers in the till before ransacking shop for cigarettes in botched robbery
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THIS is the jaw-dropping moment a former star of The Scheme turned to crime once again — caught on camera looting his local corner shop.
Christopher Cunningham, once known for his wild antics as a teenage tearaway on the BBC's fly-on-the-wall docu-series, was snared on CCTV as he tried to dip into the till before helping himself to a mountain of cigarettes.
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Chris Cunningham desperately tries to force open the till but fails
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The hapless thief drops his loot on the way to escape the store
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Videograbs of cctv showing Chris Cunningham, who featured in BBC show The Scheme, robbing a local Spar store, See Lisa Hodge story
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"Scheme" star Chris Cunningham arrives at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court for a previous hearing
The 36-year-old thug had aggressively demanded a terrified shop worker open the til before fleeing from the Spar store in the notorious Onthank estate in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.
The shocking footage, captured on June 8 last year, shows the Scheme star wearing his hood up and jacket zipped up over the bottom-half of his face, frantically trying to claw open the till before bundling up cigarettes in his arms.
He then tries to flee the shop but drops some of his loot on the way out and has to stop to pick them up.
He is then seen escaping, walking down the street away from the store.
While some of his telly co-stars have turned their lives around, Cunningham seems to have spiralled into a life of crime.
Cunningham was found guilty of the Spar raid plus a string of other crimes, including shoplifting booze from Tesco on the same day last year.
He was also convicted at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court of stealing clothing from JD Sports on June 9 this year and cosmetics from Boots on June 10.
Cunningham was jailed for a total of 28 months for all of the offences.
The Scheme burst on to TV screens 15 years ago in May 2010 and quickly became the Scots telly sensation of the decade.
The unlikely cult hit followed the lives of the residents of the Onthank and Knickinlaw estates in Kilmarnock.
errifying CCTV captures moment MMA world champ is shot five times
Fans couldn't get enough of the stars like Chris Cunninham and his pals Marvin Baird, and his girlfriend Dayna McLaughlan.
Cunningham's mother Annie Caddis, also starred in the show but later had both legs and her right arm amputated after contracting blood poisoning.
The mum was fitted with false limbs following her triple amputation in 2018.
Millions tuned into the Scottish Bafta award-winning show every week to see the exploits of the show's real-life characters as they navigated hardships.
However the show was branded "poverty porn" by critics who felt the stars of the show were being exploited.
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