A bungling criminal's plans to pay his cousin to serve out his jail sentence went wrong when he foolishly squandered his freedom. Now they could both end up being locked away.
For just 10,000 zl, convicted Wroclaw robber Daniel persuaded his younger relative, 24-year-old Rafal, to spend more than two years behind bars in his place.
The pair, who are the same height and have the same hair color, hatched a plan to swap identity cards and Rafal began serving Daniel's stir when he produced his papers at a custody center.
Rafal explained his absence to friends and family by telling them he was off to seek work in England. "He was to get the money after the stretch finished," said one of the policemen.
But blundering Daniel didn't enjoy his freedom for long. Rafal had served only six weeks behind bars before his elder relative gave the game away. Daniel saw nothing wrong with walking about his home town while he was supposed to sitting in a cell and was soon spotted by two policemen who knew him.
"It is the first time we have seen somebody willingly do time for another person," Wroclaw penitentiary director Krzysztof Kucharski told Gazeta Wyborcza.
Prison service spokesperson Luiza Salapa said: "Those men exchanged their IDs. And because they are the same age and very like each other, the guard did not see the difference."
But it now appears that Rafal may find himself behind bars again - he has been accused of using somebody else's ID and fraud. This time though, he could be locked away for a total of five years.
|