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Diamond thief's not a sparkling intellect
Oct 4 2006
By Mark Cowan, Crime Correspondent
A DIM-WITTED diamond bandit was caught red-handed - when he tried to sell a stolen £8,000 sparkler back to the same jeweller.
The two-carat ring was stolen from DD Jewellers, in Birmingham city centre, yesterday at about 10am by a scruffy gem crook who posed as a rich customer.
An hour later, a man matching his description walked into the jeweller's sister store in Sparkhill with a woman to try and sell the same ring back to them. But the eagle-eyed member of staff spotted the exclusive piece of jewellery and tricked the crook into waiting while police were called.
He was left dumbfounded when police arrived at the store in Stratford Road minutes later to arrest him on suspicion of handling stolen goods. "Why he just didn't choose another jeweller in the high street, Heaven only knows," said a spokesman for the firm.
"We were so lucky he happened to walk into the store here. Because it was quite an exclusive ring and our member of staff picked it up straight away.
"She took it away to have it weighed and authenticated but she was really calling the police."
She added: "Getting the ring back has cheered us up no end, it was just so bizarre that he came in here to try and sell it."
The man, dressed in a tracksuit and baseball cap, had asked staff to value the ring to see what they would offer in cash. But he was missing crucial diamond authentication papers.
The diamond and platinum engagement ring will now be returned to the store in Great Western Arcade shopping centre, off Colmore Row.
A West Midlands Police spokesman said a 40-year-old Birmingham man was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and was helping police with their inquiries.
