Mad October Round Up

October isn’t known as the witching season for nothing. As well as ankle-biters and rugrats dressing up in their trick or treat finery, hapless criminals were out in force this month too, trying their luck where they could and failing spectacularly on occasion. Here is a handful of the more noteworthy bungled burglaries from around the UK over the past month.

Sleeping on the job

A trio of clueless criminals were put behind bars in Nottingham this month for several counts of grand theft auto. Jake Cumberpatch, Steven Sunderland and Macauley Ryall were all locked up after a series of systematic car thefts and break-ins came to an end when two of them were found dozing in one of their conquests, while the third was fingered by CCTV footage.

It must be exhausting work this carjacking, since Cumberpatch and Ryall were discovered catching some Zs inside a stolen car – police were alerted to their skulduggery after an eagle-eyed member of the public spotted Cumberpatch wearing gloves in his slumber and summoned them to the scene. Meanwhile, Sunderland was caught speeding in a separate car by a speed camera, the footage from which allowed police to successfully identify him. The trio went down for a combined total of almost three years.

Caught in the act

Meanwhile, up in Scotland, a drunken thief was caught red-handed dangling out of a window with a flat screen TV in his hands by the local constabulary. Startled by the unexpected appearance of the boys in blue, Joseph Quinn let the TV fall from his grasp and crash to the floor below, before shortly following suit himself.

Though the television set broke his own fall, thus preventing him from sustaining any serious injuries, the screen itself was dented significantly. Upon investigating further, the police found a second TV and a power drill leant up against the window inside, evidence of Quinn’s intention to pilfer even more booty. When questioned, he replied that someone had promised him a tenner if he retrieved the goods (undoubtedly worth hundreds of pounds). It just shows you that not all answers can be found at the bottom of a bottle.

Incriminating cutlery

Scots aren’t the only ones who love a sozzled crime spree either, it seems. While Cambridge might be mostly populated by gentlemen and scholars, 23-year-old Tanyaradzwa Ndongwe was behaving like neither on a particularly inebriated night out last month. In his own words, Ndongwe was “9.5 out of 10 drunk” and stumbled into the grounds of Christ’s College, where an open window of the Master’s Lodge led to a spot of light-fingered thievery.

Ndongwe managed to make off with a MacBook, debit cards and petty cash without raising suspicion inside the lodge, but in his hurry to escape he dropped a fork he had presumably been planning to pilfer as well. The DNA from the fork was matched to his criminal file and hey presto! He found himself collared by the long arm of the law before his hangover had worn off.

Home security is no laughing matter

Though these stories show a lighter side to home intrusion, the reality is that thousands of burglaries take place every day. Make sure your home is secured by taking all of the necessary precautions and installing an up-to-date home security system – for friendly, professional advice, get in touch with the dedicated team at Blackburn Arms today.