Being the victim of a burglary or other crime is a distressing experience, especially when if the crime involves breaking into the victim’s home – it can feel like a total invasion of privacy and a violation of personal space. We are dedicated to keeping thieves out of your premises, either at home or at work, so when we read about thieves getting caught out due to stupidity, or getting a taste of their own medicine we have to laugh – the balance has been restored. Here are some of our all-time favourite idiotic thieves:
The bike thief, thief
This story is familiar to many people as it has happened all over the country. Bike thieves steal a bike put it up on Facebook or Gumtree to sell, where the owner sees their bike being offered for a bargain price. Several people have contacted the supposed sellers, arranged to meet up to buy the bike, then simply rode off on it, much to the annoyance of the thieves. One woman even took an empty handbag as a decoy deposit to leave with the thief while she took her bike “for a test ride” all the way home!
Goldilocks
In 2014, a couple returned from holiday to find someone asleep in their bed. It was unclear exactly how long Lukasz Chojnowski had been in their property, but he had washed their dishes, done some laundry and even stocked the fridge with groceries. He was spared jail on this occasion, as no damage had been done, apart from a charred saucepan, and nothing had been stolen from the home.
Hide and seek
Police looking for a suspect in Wales last year, were given an unexpected hand in their search when the suspect in question commented on their Facebook appeal for information about him. Logan James, aged 19, taunted the force, saying they weren’t trying very hard to catch him. He was arrested later the same day, thanks, in part at least, to his own public appeal.
Name and address please sir
Another tale from Wales, but this time of a very ill-thought out bank robbery. Dean Smith went into his local branch of Barclays, in Treorchy, to change his address on his accounts with the bank. During that exchange he noticed a large amount of cash in the tills, so returned shortly after wearing a poor disguise of sunglasses, and socks over his shoes. He demanded money, but the cashier refused and he fled empty handed. Police didn’t have much trouble tracking him down.
Social security
This is another oft-repeated mistake that thieves make, especially ones who steal mobile phones. Sometimes, the burglars will take a ‘selfie’ at the scene, without realising that the victim usually has an automatic cloud back up set for their phone, allowing them to see their burglar online. Some would-be robbers post about their crime attempts before they happen, allowing police to be alerted and to catch the criminals in the act, or very shortly afterwards.
When people get their phones back after they have been stolen there are often ‘selfies’ left on there that the burglars have taken, or they have logged in to their social media accounts on the stolen phone. giving access to the victims to post whatever they like on the thief’s account, which is highly amusing.
Social media evidence is often used during trials to prove a suspect’s involvement with criminal activities, a recent episode of 24 Hours in Police Custody, showed incriminating ‘selfies’ being used to get a conviction – how can some people be so stupid?
That’s all for now, but if you have a funny story about a criminal getting a taste of their own medicine do get in touch and let us know.