Say cheese
In Six unbelievable uses for cheese, BBC Food provides some imaginative, if not flat-out off-the-wall, uses for my favourite dairy product: as car fuel; sporting equipment; sculpture; collateral; a politcal statement; and…crime prevention. Although, in reality, that last one's a bit of a stretch.
This must be one of the most novel ways to catch a crook. Last year, Carl Stewart was convicted and sentenced to 13 years for conspiracy to supply drugs, and it was a wedge of cheese that led to the arrest. Stewart was captured when he uploaded a photo of cheese to EncroChat, an encrypted messaging service favoured by drug dealers, which the police had been able to crack. In the picture (above), his hand is seen holding the block of Stilton. Police were able to scan the image for his fingerprints and identify him. Det Insp Lee Wilkinson of Merseyside Police was involved with the investigation and explained that it was the criminal’s "love of Stilton" which eventually led to his capture. It's fortunate he favoured plastic-wrapped pre-cut cheese, so the police didn't need to apply for use of a wire.
BBC Food droid, Six unbelievable uses for cheese
Admittedly, this is a throwaway fluff piece, created to pass the time and pad out the site's content. It's not meant to be taken seriously. Nevertheless, Auntie Beeb, it was a photograph of his fingerprints, as he held a wedge of cheese, that led to his arrest. He could've been holding anything in the palm of his hand; as long as his fingerprints were visible, the outcome would've been the same. (pipe)
Next up: BBC Future's six unbelievable uses for fingers. Number three of which is to use the prints in order to identify and convict naughty people.