Crime Does Not Pay!

More Meldrew Moments

An Austrian court has ordered a bank robber be given back £51,000 that he stole 19 years ago. Bank manager Otto Neuman stole £150,000 in cash as well as gold bars and gold coins from his own branch in 1993. After getting into financial difficulties, he recruited two accomplices to stage a fake robbery at the Erste Bank in Vienna's Doebling district.

By the time police caught up with them, only £51,000 and the gold could be recovered. The rest of the money had gone. The gold went to the insurance company which had already paid the bank for its loss but the cash has been sitting at the Austrian Justice Ministry ever since.

Neuman's lawyer, Herbert Eichenseder, confirmed he been recently been contacted by court officials and asked to help return the stolen money to his client. The bank felt it had no claim on the money because it had been compensated in full by its insurance company. And the insurers said they didn't want it as they had not lost out either. They stolen gold had increased in value so much that it covered all of the money paid to the bank.

Mr Eichenseder said: "I really didn't believe what the court were telling me but I checked it and it was correct. I had to go into the archives in our cellar to find the details of the case as it was already 19 years old - and I managed to track down the man's details and contacted him to tell him the news.To say that he was surprised was an understatement, but he provided his bank account details and the money has now been transferred."

A West Sussex man has told how a fox stole his wife's handbag - before bringing it back to her a few minutes later. The unfortunately named Jeremy Clark of Burgess Hill, near Brighton, was preparing to go to hospital with wife, Anna when the fox pounced. He told the local Brighton Argus newspaper: "We were in the car park and he looked at me for a few seconds before letting out this feeble yelp. Next thing I knew he had my wife's handbag in his mouth and was running towards the bushes."

Mr Clark says he screamed at the fox to drop the bag but the animal scuttled off out of sight. "Anna had everything in there: her phone, money, purse, keys and letters. I couldn't believe the fox had just taken it - it was mad. I thought that was it," he added. But a few minutes later the fox crept back into the car park, with his tail between his legs, and dropped the bag at Mrs Clark's feet before running off. Mr Clark added: "I have no idea why, we couldn't believe it. We see the fox around quite a bit. I think people feed it."

Meanwhile a police force has apologised to a blind man it tasered after confusing him for a man reportedly walking around with a samurai sword. When a Lancashire Constabulary officer thought Colin Farmer matched the description of the man carrying the sword he tasered him. Then in a wonderful "No Shit Sherlock Moment" The force spokesperson said "it then became apparent that this was not the man we were looking for”.

Ch Supt Stuart Williams, Southern Divisional Commander, said the force had “clearly put him through a traumatic experience” and had launched an urgent investigation to find out why it happened. He added the incident had been referred to the IPCC. A force spokesman declined to comment on allegations Mr Farmer was tasered because the officer mistook his walking stick for the samurai sword. 

The officer should have gone to Specsavers!  Lancashire Constabulary confirmed the officer involved was suspended from carrying a Taser after the incident.

The incident happened on the evening of October 12 in Chorley, when a description of a man carrying a sword was circulated. One of the officers who arrived believed Mr Farmer was the offender. Ch Supt Williams said: “He was taken Chorley Hospital by police officers who stayed with him while he was checked over by medics. Lancashire Constabulary deeply regrets what has happened. We have clearly put this man through a traumatic experience and we are extremely sorry for that.”

Ch Supt Williams added: “We have launched an urgent investigation to understand what lessons can be learned.” The force said its officers remained in contact with Mr Farmer and his family since the incident to enquire about his recovery and will “continue to keep in touch with him and keep him informed of our inquiry”.

An IPCC spokesman said: “The IPCC can confirm it received a referral from Lancashire Constabulary on Tuesday in relation to an incident in Chorley in which a man was subject to a Taser discharge. The IPCC has decided to conduct an independent investigation into the incident.”

Later....