One-legged burglar caught after leaving tell-tale trail of single footprints

A one-legged thief was caught after leaving a trail of solitary footprints at the scene of the crime. David Phillips, whose leg is amputated above the knee, had stolen computers and jewellery in a series of raids.

But he was trapped when he left a string of crutch marks and right footprints in muddy ground at the scene of one of his break-ins. The tell-tale trail led right to his flat and a police source said: "It was not the hardest series of crimes to solve as he cuts a pretty distinctive figure with one leg.


Photo from here.

"By the time he left a trail in the mud, even Inspector Clouseau might have managed to collar him." Phillips, 44, was jailed for 40 months at Perth Sheriff Court after admitting housebreaking, breaching a curfew and brawling with police. The court was told he lost his leg through drugs and didn't know it had been amputated until he woke up in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.

Alan Kempton, prosecuting, said as well as the muddy trail, police found DNA traces at one scene. Phillips laughed and told them it would not be his. But it proved a perfect match. John McLaughlin, defending, said: "He is hoping a prosthetic leg will be available soon which will enable him to lead a more active life."