A teenage burglar took advantage of a 'rehabilitating' letter-writing exercise set by West Yorkshire police to show that he wasn't sorry for his actions, and was only writing the letter because he was forced to.
The 16-year-old penned a note which blamed the householders for becoming victims of his crime.
He scribbled: "To be honest I am not bothered or sorry about the fact that I burgled your house. Basically it was your fault anyways."
He then goes on to list the reasons why the burglary was the victims' fault, noting that they didn't draw their curtains, they left their window open, and didn't bother with extra security despite living in a high-risk area of the county.
Released by the West Yorkshire police to highlight the danger of leaving houses unsecured, the badly-spelled epistle had previously remained unseen, and was not posted to its intended recipient.
The young offender was put on a 12 month Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Plan after committing the burglary. This is described as an intensive programme that sees the individual 'monitored and supported as well as receiving education and training to divert them from crime.'
In a statement, the West Yorkshire Police said:
"Due to the cold-hearted nature of the letter it was never passed to the burglary victim but highlights how criminals target insecure properties and details how the burglar entered the house through an open kitchen window."