Every now and again, a story turns up in the media you just couldn’t make up, no matter how hard you tried.
This one involves an Illawarra woman who allegedly stole the prosecutor’s handbag from Wollongong District Courthouse, in full view of CCTV, only moments after she conducted an ‘award winning performance’ to convince the judge of her good character.
The woman was in court for her partner’s sentencing hearing, spending time on the witness stand convincing the judge that she was a positive influence on her drug dealing boyfriend. When the hearing ended around lunchtime, the woman noticed an unattended handbag under some seats nearby. CCTV allegedly shows her picking up the handbag, putting it under her arm and walking out of court with it, in the company of her boyfriend.
It transpired that the handbag belonged to the very prosecutor who was running the case against her boyfriend, and had been left in an area reserved for lawyers. The prosecutor quickly reported the missing bag to court sheriffs, as well as police.
When the boyfriend attended the court registry to sign his good behaviour bond, he was asked to return to the courtroom, where Presiding Judge Paul Conlon questioned him about the handbag.
Judge Conlon later said the incident did not affect the man’s sentencing in any way, but it did reflect very badly on the woman, who had apparently given an “Academy Award winning performance” to convince the court she was a moral, upstanding citizen.
It is understood the woman was arrested outside the courthouse a short time later. When officers searched the Holden Commodore she had been driving, they discovered identification documents belonging to the prosecutor. The woman was charged by police later that afternoon.
‘Australia’s Dumbest Criminal 2015’
The Illawarra woman’s actions certainly rival those of a Gold Coast man, who won the award of ‘Australia’s dumbest criminal in 2015’.
Officers from the Rapid Action Patrol task force (RAP), whose work is captured on camera for Network Ten’s reality series Gold Coast Cops, received a tip-off about the man’s alleged criminal activity.
When they raided his home, he denied being the big time drug dealer they suspected him to be. But his phone was sitting nearby and officers decided to take a look through it. When they did, they found a video selfie of the man wearing no shirt and posing in front of the bathroom mirror, next to a big bag of drugs.
Also in Queensland last year, amusing CCTV footage captured a man failing in his attempt to steal an ATM from a Townsville service station. The man hooked up chains from the ATM to his (also stolen) getaway truck, but when he drove off, realised that that the ATM had stayed in place, because the chains had not been fastened. Undeterred, he tried again later that night, and his second attempt was caught on CCTV too.
CCTV Footage
All major cities around the world now have thousands of CCTV cameras watching over public spaces. Our roads too, are under surveillance.
These cameras are supposed to keep us safe and deter crime. And, there have been many successes since their introduction, including crucial images of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, and those suspected to be responsible for the 2005 London attacks.
It is reported that the average Australian resident is captured on film about 15 times a day. When you add this to the fact that 90% of Australians now have camera phones, and are not afraid to use them, there is a good chance that anti-social acts done in public will be caught on film.
CCTV footage taken in public places, or in private places with the consent of the owner or occupier, is admissible in court. So it makes sense to think twice before acting on a foolish or opportunistic impulse.
