A quick thinking 10-year-old boy helped catch a mobile phone thief by photographing him in the act and posting the picture on Twitter.
Alex Wilson was in a car with his dad Dylan, 39, when they drove past jobless Craig Royal, 24, as he snatched an iPhone from a pedestrian.
Immediately grabbing his own phone, Alex snapped the thief as he fled the scene on a bicycle.
As soon as he got home Alex downloaded the image of Royal from his phone and put it up on Twitter with the caption ''This idiot just robbed someone on Yarm Road about 20 mins ago.'
Detectives then identified Royal and charged him.
The police praised Alex for his 'quick thinking'. Inspector Mark Hall of Darlington Police, said: 'This young boy was a key witness whose quick thinking and public spiritedness enabled us to quickly identify and arrest the suspect.'
Royal, from Darlington, County Durham, pleaded guilty to the offence at Darlington Magistrates' Court on Thursday and was given a 12-month conditional discharge with a £50 fine and £85 costs.
Alex's mum, Mel Wilson, told reporters how proud she was of her young son, adding: 'He was really repulsed when he saw the robbery, so he was very pleased when he caught him on camera. When he found out they had caught the guy, he was really quite chuffed.'
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