A big thanks to the BBC, for giving me the biggest laugh I’ve had all week, with this story about a man dubbed “the dumbest criminal” by police.
It all started when the man went into his local police station in Pretoria, South Africa, saying he’d been robbed at gunpoint, and they’d stolen his mobile phone. As this is a common occurrence in SA, the police officer took a statement, and followed due process.
And then he rang the mobile number the man had given.
Which made the phone ring in his pocket.
What. A. Numpty.
The man then went on to say he’d given police the wrong number by mistake, but then he couldn’t explain why the IMEI number matched the one in his statement, or why the phone in his pocket MATCHED THE EXACT DESCRIPTION OF THE ONE HE SAID WAS STOLEN!
So, they nicked him for perjury! Quite right, too! And I’m sorry, but this story clearly calls for one of these:
Have your say! You think the police should’ve let him go? You think they should have hit him repeatedly with big sticks? You think he should locked up for his own safety, preferably in a rubber room? Leave us a comment to let us know what you think!
January 10th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I used to work in South Africa, and this story doesn’t surprise me at all. To be fair, the police probably DID hit him with a big stick anyway….