There are few criminals dimmer than Ross Edmonds, from Hove, and his 17-year-old friend.

They stole a camera from a car and took pictures both of themselves and the tools they had used for the job.

It is hardly surprising they were caught by the police and prosecuted in court.

But the sentences they were given were disappointingly light. Edmonds got just 42 days in jail and his accomplice only 40 hours' community punishment.

This was a petty crime committed by two stupid people. But it was part of a crime wave in the Preston Park area of Brighton and no laughing matter for the victims.

If they had been more severely sentenced, other criminals might have been deterred from car crime.

As it is, the sentences were so absurdly soft other criminals like these might be daft enough to follow suit.