Yep...a personalised number plate gave a robber away. James Snell from Cardiff got together with his brother Wayne and a couple of other robbers, and used his own BMW car with his own personalised number plate to carry out a bank robbery. Witnesses saw the robbers lift a drain cover and smash the windows of the bank. And make off with over £100k of loot. But what the robbers didn't count on was the very distinctive personalised number plate (J4 MES) that stood out like a sore thumb. Witnesses remembered the personalised number plate...and told the police. The robbers may as well have left their calling card! Such a distinctive personalised number plate doesn't come cheap… I'd suggest it's worth upwards of £100k on today's market. Could it have been paid for from ill-gotten gains, perhaps...?! The judge called the operation a "professional, sophisticated, pre-planned robbery on commercial premises". The defence solicitior said: "The lure of what appeared to be easy money was too strong for him. It was his youth, immaturity and incompetence which led to the arrest." I'm inclined to agree with the defence solicitor myself... and I thank goodness for Mr Snell's naivete that got him caught. All the robbers received heavy sentences...personally, I think they should add a few more years for being complete numpties! Moral of the story...? Robbing banks and personalised number plates don't mix too well.
