To be fair to this guy his plan was about a hundred times smarter than most robbers could manage. Getting caught because of a vigilant (or nosey) citizen spotting something slightly related a couple of weeks earlier and bothering to tell the police was plain bad luck.

note: He, like most criminals deserves to be caught and punished, my point is merely that he applied more thought than most.

It was such a great plan I kind of wanted him to get away with it.

Sloppy tradecraft let a good caper down.

unlikely someone jotted down a number plate.

Police lie don't they, there really should be a law against it.

"....using someone else's wireless signal from his laptop,....."

Robbery - 6 months.

Assault - 18 months.

Unlawful access to a computer system with criminal intent - oops, that'll be the one where the key gets thrown away then.

Even easier when everybody wears the same outfit! :-)