Too dumb to be a criminal

A German bank robber has been advised by a judge to go straight because he lacks the talent for crime.

Marko N, 28, from Dusseldorf, was already waiting outside the bank he was planning to rob before it opened in the morning.

Dressed in shorts, a sleeveless shirt and a woollen hat, he soon attracted attention as he spent three hours plucking up the courage to go inside.

When he finally went into the bank, he pulled his hat down over his face but he couldn't see because he had cut the eyeholes in the wrong place.

Ripping off the cap in frustration, he walked straight past a security camera, providing what Judge Wolfram Schnorr mockingly praised as "first-class pictures".

The would-be robber then threatened a cashier with a pistol-shaped lighter, but she told him to get lost.

He took her advice but was immediately arrested by police officers waiting for him outside.

At his trial at Dusseldorf district court, Judge Schnorr advised Marko N against trying again. "You'd be better off giving up robbing banks. You are clearly untalented for the job," he said.

Marko N received a one year suspended prison sentence, the Express newspaper reports.