There are no doubt criminal geniuses out there but they sit at the top of a pyramid where the base is made up with the not-so-bright.

Take the case of the man who held up a gasolinera in Churriana de la Vega last Sunday morning. He was armed with a knife but not much between his ears, it appears, because he left his wallet at the scene of the crime.

The first obvious question is if you disguise yourself to mask your identity… why take your ID card with you in the first place? Surely it is one of the things that you would make sure you had left at home, rather than your common sense?

Anyway, after bursting into the shop area with the knife as a ‘persuasion tool,’ he discovered that the employee on duty did not have the means to open the safe where the takings are kept. So our hero set upon the safe, trying desperately to force it open – he even at one point decided to take the safe with him… unsuccessfully.

Realising that he would be returning home empty handed, he set about breaking as much as he could on one of the fuel pumps. Finally he left with no booty and no wallet – it had fallen out his back pocket during his exertions with the reluctant safe.

Realising where his wallet was, he was not home when the police went around for a chat and has stayed away since then, but it won’t be long before they catch up with him.

(News: Churriana de la Vega, Granada, Andalucia)