A SERIAL thief broke into a Southampton snooker hall before raiding the bar and stealing cash from a fruit machine.

Elliot Felmingham used a chisel to work open a door at city centre snooker club Rocket Ronnies in July last year.

He then took three bottles of spirits from the bar, before smashing into a gambling machine and fleeing the Castle Way venue with more than a £1,000 in cash.

But the 32-year-old was quickly tracked down by police who matched DNA on the games machine.

In a police interview, Felmingham, a former painter and decorator, told officers he had worked at the gaming hall and had repaired the machine.

But after speaking to the snooker hall’s owner, Ronnie Keates, and the company from which he had hired the machine, police confirmed Felmingham was not employed by either.

Appearing at Southampton Crown Court this week, Felmingham, who is currently serving a prison sentence for a separate incident, was sentenced to six months in prison for burglary.

In sentencing, Judge Gary Burrell said Felmingham, who already has 48 convictions, was “destroying” his life.

He said: “You are obviously an intelligent young man but you are destroying your life.

“You are continuing to destroy yourself. Now is the time to stop.”

Judge Burrell ordered Felmingham’s sentence to run concurrently to his current sentence, meaning he will be out in May.

As previously reported in the Echo, Rocket Ronnies closed its doors last year after plans were lodged to build a new student block on the Castle Way site.

The club’s owner, Mr Keates, later revealed plans to move to a new premises on the High Street.

The new club has since been opened.