Dutch Courage

If the majority of crimes are committed intoxicated then I guess what we are saying is that criminals need an element of increased courage from a bottle of drink or a taste of their prefered contraband. The saying Dutch Courage has been around for a long time and has always insinuated that a quick drink will help settle nervous before an event. I have dealt with one incident where Dutch Courage became the unsticking of one theif in particular when he decided that he would steal booze from one of our local public houses. He formualted the plan that he would sneak into the cellar of the public house one night whilst the pub was still open as nobody would suspect noise in the beer garden. He broke in and laid in wait in the cellar until closing time. When everyone had left his plan was to open up the loft hatch and escape with a rucksack full of booze. Last orders came and as the pub started to close up, the staff began to secure all of the exits and entrances. Including the Cellar door. As the staff admitted the loft hatch in the beer garden had been faulty for some time and the way that they had secured it during the night was to chain and padlock it shut. The theif was unknowning to this and didnt seem to hear the massive chain and padlock being shackled around the cellar door. This was because the theif had already started. He had already helped himself to two bottles of beer to calm his nerves and then began to load his bag. Once his bag was full the theif tried to make his escape only to find his exit blocked. His thoughts then turned to the trapdoor into the pub which was also locked from the outside. The theif was trapped. When staff returned to the pub the following morning to open up for breakfast they were astonished to find that the theif was still in the cellar, his bag was still full and that even though he was trapped he had continued to drink to the point where the staff tried to wake him up but failed. They then called the police but before we could arrive the theif had become aware and had ran out through the now unlocked cellar door. The only sticking point was he left his bag behind which he had left his wallet in with his prisoner card. He was swiftly arrested and sent back to prison.