The Evening Post story of disabled shoplifter Christopher Westcott's daring raid on Tesco Homeplan in Hartcliffe is a fine piece of understated crime reporting and deserves to be read.
The humour in the piece (nice use of the word buggy) simmers away nicely through the opening paragraph:
The humour in the piece (nice use of the word buggy) simmers away nicely through the opening paragraph:
A disabled shoplifter who tried to escape from a Bristol store with a TV on his electric buggy has been jailed for six months.Christopher Westcott was spotted driving “at speed” from the Tesco Homeplan shop in Hartcliffe and initially congratulated staff for catching him, Bristol Crown Court heard.
Other instances of wheelchair users committing robberies include:
- In 1996, shop worker Carrie Murray of California was awarded damages of $50,000 when her right thumb and index finger were damaged as a result of inserting her hand into the spokes of a wheelchair being used by a shoplifter
- A Florida wheelchair user was recently arrested for theft of $200 worth of meat from a Wal-Mart in the Tampa area. Terry Anthony Putz has 27 prior arrests and three convictions for theft.
- Also in California (Palo Alto) earlier this year, a man held up a bank at the Stanford Shopping Center, brandishing a black handgun while seated in his electric wheelchair. Police are looking for a white male aged about 60 with grey hair and a beard last seen motoring towards a main road nearby. Witnesses say the man's right leg was sticking straight out while he zoomed away.
- George Clooney features as a disabled criminal in the 2003 comedy Welcome to Collinwood.
