November 14, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 8, 1423

BERLIN, Nov 13: A German bank robber who forgot to cut open eye slits in his mask and lifted it up to demand money was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail, state prosecutors in Giessen said on Tuesday.

The robber, dubbed “Germany’s dumbest criminal” by Bild newspaper, had entered a bank in the western town with a burlap bag over his head. Bumping into bank customers on his way to the teller, he pulled out a plastic knife and a toy pistol.

He then lifted the front of his mask to look at the teller and demand money. The robber was told the safe couldn’t be opened and he fled. But he was easily identified from the security cameras behind the teller and soon arrested.

“He was a real amateur,” said Giessen police spokesman Gerald Frost. “He lifted the mask and looked straight into the camera. He was quickly identified and arrested a day later.”

Volker Kramer, spokesman for the Giessen state prosecutor’s office, said the robber was convicted of attempted robbery late on Monday and sentenced to four years in jail.—Reuters