Dumb burglar caught

Idiot writes own name on wall!

[Syzygy]

...18-year-old burglar who vandalised a children's campsite building was caught because he wrote his name on a wall at the scene...

Police found him after entering his name in a computer system. ...Police said: "This crime is up there with the dumbest of all in the criminal league table.

"There are some pretty stupid criminals around, but to leave your own name at the scene of the crime takes the biscuit.

From the BBC [news.bbc.co.uk].

That's so funny. You couldn't make it up. It's true - there is one born every minute. Lol!

Syzygy

[LifeinAsia]

Alhtough it seems obviously stupid for the guy to have done it, it's also seems obviously smart that another person could have done the buglary and written the suspect's name to set him up.

Then again, immediately confessing to the crime when confronted (absent any other "evidence") is probably just as stupid as what he did at the crime scene.

I would imagine that this is not the last we have heard of this person. I predict a long and glorious career of being caught doing stupid things.

[ytswy]

I used to have a book full of stories about dumb criminals. Think it was called "Law and Order" or similar. The two best I can remember:

1. A man who was smart enough to wear a motorcycle helmet to disguise himself when he robbed a post office, but unfortunately chose one with his name written across the forehead.

2. A man who left his dog at the scene of a robbery. The crime was solved by using the command "Home!"

[le_gber]

I came across one story this week who prove that some criminals should just stick to the right side of the law.

A guys goes and robs an off licence at knife - or gun - point. After getting the cash from the register, he wants to get alcohol for free as well but the cashier refuses to serve him fearing he was under 18.

Care to guess what the robber did?

... he handed his ID card to prove he was over 18 ...

Needless to say he was caught 2 hours after the cashier called the police.

[victor]

I know (from speaking to many practitioners -- including those caught, and those still running a successful practice) that burglary is stressful job.

So you can expect many (especially those new to the career) to make stress related errors.

This makes them dumb only in the sense that they have not invested enough time in preparation and training before going unaided into the field.

If the government provided proper vocational training, then we could lead the world in this field.

Sadly, it is left to private enterprise and the prison system (these days mainly private too) to assist with skills transfer in this non-digital, non-rights property transfer arena.