"If something is too hard to do, then it's not worth doing."

It seems Croydon Police are taking the words of Homer Simpson to heart:

Fomer policeman Graham Peacock, 65, caught a violent thief, on camera, stealing £90 from his till at the Security Centre in Purley on May 17.

Police issued the picture of a man called Leroy Lawless (Ed: no wonder he turned to a life of crime!) who they wanted to question in connection with the crime, however they have been unable to trace him through their appeals.

Oh, well. No doubt he'll turn up sometime, and they can then charge him with...

Oh. Wait:

Mr Peacock recently received a letter from the Victim Focus Unit which read: “We have reviewed the crime but so far there is not enough evidence to continue with further inquiries and the case will now be closed.“

But it's amazing what a little bit of shaming puiblicirty can do, isn't it?

A police spokeswoman said: “A thorough investigation has been carried out by Croydon Borough's Burglary squad and this has led to the suspect in this offence being identified. Although a number of enquires have been made to locate him, he is yet to be arrested. The suspect has been circulated as wanted and Police will continue to pro-actively seek him.

“Unfortunately, the victim was sent an incorrect letter advising him that the matter was being closed. I regret that this has happened, particularly in light of what was an excellent investigation by the Burglary squad and can confirm that Mr Peacock has received a personal apology on behalf of Croydon Police"

A mistake. Sure it was.