Detectives can often spend months meticulously piecing together bits of vital evidence in order to solve the most complex of crimes.
There are also times, though, where criminals make life a lot easier by helping them along the way.
Thousands of individuals pass through London’s criminal court system each year, each having been identified, arrested and charged with a wide variety of offences.
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Some escaped punishment for months, but others were caught in little time and with even less effort.
One prime example is a man who decamped his vehicle and sprinted away from chasing officers, but ran in the direction of a police station.
Another man also claimed whiplash in a crash that he was not involved in, before then being pictured online making his professional boxing debut five days later.
My London has picked out x criminals whose stupid mistakes that led to them getting caught by police.
Boxer who claimed whiplash in crash he was not involved in made fighting debut five days later
(Image: City of London Police)
A London boxer who claimed he suffered whiplash as part of a “Crash for Cash” plot with family members was caught out by police after he made his professional debut just five days later.
Daniel Keenan, 24, was part of a group of four men who made bogus claims for personal injury and loss of earnings following a low-speed crash in the Greenford area, despite none of them having actually been in the car at the time.
Daniel stated he was unemployed at the time of the crash, but that his injury had restricted him in playing football and boxing recreationally.
Research into his background, though, showed he was in fact a full-time boxer and had made his professional debut five days after the crash took place.
Brixton drill rapper ran away from officers in direction of police station
(Image: MyLondon)
Brixton drill rapper Skengdo was armed with a ‘Samurai sword’ when he attempted to run from police.
Real name Terrel Downey, the rapper was on his way to a music project in Wimbledon when he was subject to an ANPR stop by police near Clapham Common.
He decamped his vehicle and made off from officers, discarding of a coat containing two pots of herbal cannabis and the knife in the process.
However, he ran in the direction of a police station and was quickly detained by officers.
He has been jailed for six months.
Drug dealer who returned to the scene of the crime
(Image: Metropolitan Police)
You would think that if a drug dealer was spotted by police dealing drugs in a specific area, they would try and avoid that area for the foreseeable future.
Alex Domingo, a 29-year-old of Smock Walk, Croydon was caught dealing on London Road, West Croydon on January 11 but managed to run away from police.
Officers did seize the drugs a few days later, though, when Domingo returned to London Road and was spotted by officers again. This time, he was arrested.
He was jailed for 20 months.
Man incriminated himself after breaking collarbone in motorcycle crash
(Image: Hounslow Chronicle)
Breaking your collarbone after crashing your motorcycle is one thing, but then being arrested while receiving treatment is insult to serious injury.
Louis Murtagh, 20, was riding along Lillie Road, just north of Fulham, when he crashed into a central crossing on November 30 last year.
Police and paramedics attended the incident, with officers finding that the motorcycle had no insurance. Despite being a learner, there were also no “L” plates attached to the vehicle.
While being treated in an ambulance, Murtagh explained that the plates had fallen off the motorcycle and, instead, he had kept them in storage space located underneath his seat.
He got his keys and led police to the vehicle, where he haphazardly further incriminated himself when officers discovered a lock knife with serrated edges.
Teen stole £1,000 from pensioners in ‘laughable’ robberies at cashpoint 10 minutes from his home
(Image: Metropolitan Police)
A teenager targeted pensioners in a series of “almost laughable” robberies at the nearest cashpoint to his home address.
Joseph Oluwasanni, 18, pushed and robbed an 83-year-old man during a spate of incidents over an 11-day period between April 24 and May 5 earlier this year.
The court heard that the robberies were committed against five separate victims at the same Hilldene Avenue ATM in Harold Hill, Havering.
In each case, Oluwasanni approached the person using the machine and either distracted them or pushed them out the way in order to gain access to the machine and steal their cash.
Detective Sergeant Stephen Katete of the East Area Command Burglary and Robbery Investigation Team described the robberies as “almost laughable.”
The pickpocketers caught red-handed stealing in a Tube station
(Image: British Transport Police)
Two pickpocketers ended up in jail after being caught red-handed. Stealing right in front of a police officer is never a good move.
In fairness, the police officers at Piccadilly Circus Station were plain-clothed, but since Central London Tube stations are usually quite well policed you have to question why they’d bother.
On January 20 this year, Walid Ferragh, 22, and Abdul Boumssaid, 24, were jailed in relation to the pickpocketing of a woman in front of police at Piccadilly Circus.
Man, 31, who held huge Covid lockdown breach party on Hackney boat despite being warned twice gets fine
(Image: PA wire)
A man who hosted a large drum and bass party on a Hackney canal boat during the height of national lockdown was fined.
Jordy Nicholas Van Duijvenbode, 31, had been warned on two previous occasions before officers responded to reports from members of the public of music blaring from a boat along the River Lea in the early hours of February 13.
Upon arrival, they found Van Duijvenbode driving the boat, which was seen to be leaning over on one side due to the large number of people aboard. All the windows had also been boarded up.
Van Duijvenbode was fined £1,161 for the offences, with legal costs bringing the total to £1,902 which must be paid in six months.
Covid breachers hiding in cupboard
They say you can run, but you can’t hide.
It is easy to see why after students who travelled from London to Birmingham for a lockdown-breaching party were found hiding in a cupboard trying to avoid police.
Police officers issued around 50 Fixed Penalty Notices after being called to the party at a student accommodation in the city.
Man swallowed 100 bags of cocaine
(Image: National Crime Agency)
A Brazilian student was jailed for swallowing £80,000 worth of cocaine to try and smuggle it past guards at Heathrow Airport.
Luan Monteiro, 30, swallowed roughly 100 packages containing cocaine and boarded a flight from São Paulo.
An X-ray revealed the packages, which weighed a kilo, inside his body and he was detained by Border Force officers at Heathrow Terminal 4 on Christmas Eve 2020.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/london-crime9-timescriminalswerecaught-out-stupidity-20959000