Could this be one of Britain’s dumbest criminals? A bank robber was caught after he visited the scene of the crime in his car- complete with personalised number plates.
In what must classify as being one of the most poorly thought out bank robberies of all time, James Snell drove his car- bearing the number plate- ‘J4 MES’, to the Halifax bank in Cardiff in order to set up the crime.
However, what Snell didn’t bank on was witnesses admiring the memorable number plate- thus leading to his swift arrest.
Snell and four accomplices threatened Securicor workers who were refilling the branches’ cash machines, before making off which a whopping £104,910.
During the hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, it emerged that the distinctiveness of the number plate meant that their downfall was almost inevitable.
Daniel Williams, prosecuting, said:
“A witness saw a passenger lean out, lift a drain cover from the road and the car drove off.
“Lee Norville, who works for the council’s highways department, later identified one of the two covers used to smash the windows at a branch of Halifax as coming from that drain.
“It was the distinctiveness of the car which contributed to the robbers’ undoing.”
The gang were subsequently jailed for a total of 38 years.
The case highlights just how much personalised number plates can stand out, and will hopefully help to deter any would-be criminals from carrying out illegal activities in the future.
[...] an article last week, we told you the remarkable story about how a bank robber had been caught after setting up the [...]