So, the builder was sufficiently suspicious of this bloke to take a (rather useless) pic of him on his phone.

Why, oh why did he or she not think to confront the "burglar" or maybe call the police?

And, before you all jump on the "Police never turn up to burglaries" BS that is portrayed in the media, they did when I called them to report a suspected burglary in progress, so don't get all Daily Mail on me! ;o)

BC

Is it just me or are Facebook groups now a cure-all for all problems? Call me cynical but the SOUTHAMPON IZ GR8 DOWN WIF POMPEY group doesn't seem to be a positive influence on local politics; to say nothing of looking for lost pets, children and burglars.

Of course, this could be turned about for nefarious reasons, posting to the site from a made-up identity and ruining the reputation of an innocent party. Or less innocent, naturally.

Whatever next? Pictures of people having affairs being blackmailed?! That'd make interesting reading...

Robbery is theft from a person with violence (or the threat thereof). This individual burgled the flats, he did not rob them.

A picture of his number plate would have been mildly more helpful... Or did he take the bus?

Ooooh! If only they'd had the foresight to take a DNA sample from his teacup! Problem solved, and another miscreant behind bars.

Well, with those sunglasses, we can narrow down the suspect list to about a million.

And the car was probably stolen. Maybe even returned before its owner missed it!

I agree, the construction workers should have been just a tad more suspicious. Are they so thick that they couldn't give a reasonable description to a police sketch artist?

"Are they so thick that they couldn't give a reasonable description to a police sketch artist?"

This has nothing with being thick - it has to do with facial recognition and memory. I, for one, make a very good living as an IT analyst which requires me to have a pretty lively brain... but I dread ever having to describe someone to a sketch-artist, especially someone whom I'd have only met briefly. I am *terrible* at remembering people's faces... I'll recognise them once I see them, but ask me to describe them from memory? <shudder>

Inre: Nick Cholerton

"Robbery is theft from a person with violence (or the threat thereof). This individual burgled the flats, he did not rob them."

I'll take your pedantry and run with it... it's not actually burglary if it doesn't happen at night.

John Tickle - Formerly of Big Brother fame turned Brainiac....

Arrest that man.

Wrong. In the UK, it used to be burglary only if the person broke into a house by night with the intent of committing a felony. It still is in the USA. But not nowadays in the UK.

The clumsy phrasing is because I'm paraphrasing the OED.