UK DUMB DRUNK THIEF STEALS OFFICE COMPUTERS Thief's slow ride to freedom cut short - Yahoo! News: "Fri May 4, 5:05 PM ET

(Court TV) — A UK burglar heard the backup beep of justice this week after he was sentenced for his attempted getaway on a forklift.


Christopher Croston, 24, of Netherton, England, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for a robbery at a Rolls Royce dealership in Bootle, according to media reports.

A prosecutor said Croston, along with five or six others, broke into the dealership on Jan. 17, locked up a security guard and stole an office's computer equipment.

But instead of a Rolls, Croston selected a slower, clunkier getaway vehicle.

Officers stopped Crosto, who was wearing 'a high visibility jacket,' driving the forklift on his way out. They suspected he was intoxicated, but he refused to submit to a breathalyzer test.

They returned the computers to the company. But weeks later, on March 5, Croston returned to the dealership, a prosecutor said.

He punched the security guard — the same one, according to media reports — and ordered the man to hand over his keys.

This time, he took the guard's Renault Clio. But he didn't get far — he crashed the car.

Defense attorneys said Croston has an alcohol problem.

At his sentencing, a judge scolded Croston, saying, "The fact you used such a slow and conspicuous getaway vehicle as a forklift truck during the burglary shows how drunk you were," according to the Southport Visiter.

"These were serious offenses and the robbery involved gratuitous violence," he said.