More Heroic Failures

Through Windows 
 
Our favourite sort of thief is not very quick on his feet. 
Mr Christopher Fleming was one of these. In 1978, Mr 
Fleming wanted to steal money from a Chinese restaur-
ant in Tiverton in Devon. He planned to climb through a 
kitchen window and steal as much money as possible, 
then climb back through the window again. 
In one quick unusual movement he climbed through the 
window and fell into a large pot of cooking oil. With the 
oil all over him he continued with his plan and went to 
where the money was. 
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He could not find very much money, only a few coins, 
which he put into his pockets. Outside, the oily thief 
walked straight into the arms of a policeman. 
The Robber Who Gave His Money Away 
A man planned to steal money from a supermarket in 
Southampton in 1977. He went round the shop in the 
usual way, choosing things to buy. Then he went to pay 
the shopkeeper. He put £10 of coins on the desk. While 
the woman was counting the money he put his arm over 
the desk and took all the money that was there. He then 
ran out of the shop. But he lost £5.63 because there was 
only £4.37 in the desk at the time. 
The woman was not sure what to do at first. She 
screamed for a minute and then her friend Betty came to 
help her. 
The Most Unsuccessful Escape 
One of the most unsuccessful escapes happened in 
Detroit in 1970. Someone stole the car that two bank 
robbers were planning to use to drive away from the 
bank. When the robbers ran out of the bank into the 
street, their car was gone. 
But in July 1978 two robbers were much better failures 
than that. They were more than just unlucky — they 
were stupid, too. They robbed a shop in Perivale in 
Middlesex. When they went into the shop, they took 
£4,500 and then ran out to their car. 
It was then that things started to get interesting. One 
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of the robbers, Mr O’Connor, was the driver. He jumped 
in, turned the key the wrong way and broke the lock. The 
two then jumped into another car and did the same thing 
again. 
But that was not all. The cars were pointing the wrong 
way for their escape. They were pointing straight at the 
police station.