Sex offender who gave victims his number among 'Britain’s stupidest criminals'
Britain’s doziest criminals have been revealed by police after they left simple clues or made foolish blunders that landed them with jail sentences.
Among those who made police officers’ life easy were a woman who googled “can you get away with a hit and run”, a sex offender who put his mobile number on creepy letters he sent to victims, and a burglar who forgot he was wearing an electronic tag when he was called up by a gang of thieves to help in a break-in.
David Wilson, professor of criminology who has investigated and advised police on dozens of high-profile crimes, said the dumbest half dozen were merely “exaggerated” examples of how even the most sophisticated criminals made mistakes and left clues that helped detectives lock them up.
“It does reveal that people who commit crime are not necessarily masterminds. They may think they are criminal masterminds but all too often they are all too human and leave clues. We should be grateful for the fact they are human and they do make errors,” said Professor Wilson.
Danny Patrick, a paedophile and sex offender, wrote to “sexy” women claiming to be their secret admirer. He watched and tracked his four unsuspecting victims to find out where they lived before delivering the “creepy” handwritten letters to their doorsteps.
He gave the women his mobile number and urged them to text him with their name and age to find out who he was and what he wanted. But his clumsy mistake meant police were able to trace him and pin him to the crime.
The 36-year-old from Wolverhampton admitted four counts of sending a communication conveying indecent or offensive messages and was jailed for 20 months and handed a 10-year restraining order.
Nishaben Mistry, 37, googled “can you get away with a hit and run” after striking and killing a 69 year-old pensioner while driving her BMW.
Her phone was later examined, uncovering internet searches including: “How long does an arrest take on a hit and run”, “Do most hit and run drivers get caught?”, and “Do the police usually find the people behind hit and run accidents?”
Police revealed she only had one second to react to the pedestrian as he was masked from view and there was no evidence to support any careless or dangerous driving, excess speed or distraction. She pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to stop and was jailed for 17 weeks, suspended for two years.
Lewis Tracey, 29, was drafted in at the last minute to take part in a five-man armed raid on a Birmingham home where he was required to “snap” the lock while the others wearing balaclavas and wielding knives and swords, went inside.
Surprised to find the occupants at home, they fled. Four of the five remained unidentified but Tracey was caught because had forgotten one crucial clue: he was on an electronic tag at the time. He was jailed for six years and 11 months.
The downfall of Brandon Hayden, 24, was his distinctive woolly hat which he wore when he mounted a violent robbery on a woman in her 60s in her home after climbing through the front window.
He ran off when he saw the victim’s daughter on the phone to the police but left his hat with his DNA which, along with his mobile phone, linked him to the scene. He was jailed for nine years.
Halfords worker Scott Anderson, 40, had been signing off dozens of MoT tests for cars, which never appeared at the garage. He was caught after logging on to the firm’s computer system to “carry out an MoT” while off sick at home. He was spotted by a manager, leading to him being jailed for a suspended 10-month jail sentence.
Prof Wilson said he was “pleased” that during his career dealing with criminals that they had made mistakes, rather than continuing to commit some “awful” offences.
“One of the first young offenders I remember working with got released but was back inside after only a few months. He said he stole a car. But what was even more stupid was that it turned out to be an unmarked police car,” he said.
