Burglar caught by cucumber

A burglar was caught by police after having a bite out of a cucumber. Billy Joe Donnelly, 22, was peckish when he raided a greenhouse down a country lane. During the raid, however, he couldn't resist sampling the home-grown produce and his DNA was later discovered on a cucumber.

The honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding, Judge Michael Mettyear, declared in disbelief: "He was caught by a cucumber." Donnelly, of Bransholme, Kingston upon Hull, ate a variety of produce and then burgled the home of the owners on August 21. Prosecutor Jharna Jobes said: "The owner was going to sell the items he was growing in the greenhouse, but someone had been in there and eaten most of the vegetables and a cucumber. A cucumber was found with his DNA on it.

"The occupants were in bed asleep at the time and there must have been some planning involved in this." Donnelly then broke into the house next to the greenhouse in the village of Preston by breaking a window. Donnelly ransacked the house, stealing treasured possessions including a retirement watch the homeowner had been given when he retired. His wife woke to discover her car was also missing.

In a victim impact statement, the couple said they now felt they needed to sell their home of more than 20 years because they no longer felt safe after what Donnelly had done. Judge Mettyear jailed Donnelly, who has previous convictions for a burglary and shop thefts, for two and a half years.