"Titter Ye Not!"

Thief, 21, set fire to himself while trying to steal live 11,000-watt cable causing power cut that left his grandmother on stair lift for four hours

This bungling thief is clearly no bright spark after managing to set himself on fire while trying to steal live high-voltage power cable.

Blundering Richard Howells caused a power cut to 1,000 homes – including his own grandmother’s who found herself stranded on her electric stairlift for several hours until engineers could fix the problem.

The 21-year-old, of Penlan, Swansea, saw sparks fly from his fingers and set himself on fire when he used a screwdriver to try pry out part of the 11,000-watt cable which he hoped to sell to pay his £140 phone bill. City magistrates were told he almost died and had to roll on the floor to put the flames on his body out after the near fatal theft on April 4.