Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2004/08/06/toff_tea_leaf/

Webcam snares toff 'tea leaf'

Thieving aristo caught red-handed

By Lester Haines

Posted in Bootnotes, 6th August 2004 11:35 GMT

An 18-year-old pupil at £7,000-a-term Harrow public school was caught relieving a fellow pupil's wallet of cash after the suspicious victim rigged a webcam to capture the blag.

Gregory Allen, 18, set the trap after £200 was stolen from fellow students. The webcam - sited over Allen's desk - was triggered by anyone opening the door of the room. Sure enough, the surveillance set-up soon captured the toff ne'er-do-well rifling Allen's wallet.

According to the Sun, one pupil said: "If there is one thing that is not tolerated, it is stealing from other boys. Having a tea leaf around means no one trusts anyone."

One wonders what has happened to standards at Harrow. Not only do pupils now apparently steal from each other without regard for the rule of law, but they also seemingly talk like extras from The Sweeney. Tea leaf? Good Lord. We assume, then, that the miscreant pupil finally had his collar felt by a mortar-boarded master bearing a cane and uttering the immortal words of Jack "Fag guv?" Regan: "Get your trousers on, you're nicked!"

For the record, the master criminal was allowed to sit his A-levels before leaving Harrow. No further action was taken against him. The Sun has webcam images of the heist here. ®

Bootnote

For those readers not familiar with 1970s UK police series, or Cockney rhyming slang, "tea leaf" = thief.

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