Hanlon was sentenced to 11 months in jail after pleading guilty to three charges of burglary - one for the Countdown incident and two for breaking into baches.
Judge McDonald noted Hanlon hadn't even had the nous to find a bandanna and said the couple "weren't even bright enough to watch a decent criminal program".
It appears Dannevirke police were aware of the show too. They dubbed David Abraham James Kendrick, then 19, one of the town's dumbest crooks after he crashed his car in July while drunk - then asked for police help to retrieve it.
He attempted to tow the crashed vehicle with a ute, but when he was unable to do so, flagged down a police vehicle for assistance.
Kendrick admitted he had been drinking and said he knew he was over the limit, but just wanted to get his car home after it had crashed.
He was convicted of drink driving and fined $500, ordered to pay court costs of $132.89, and disqualified from driving for six months.
Back in Northland, a Kaitaia man who was lucky to avoid a head-on collision with a police car in March, told officers he was pleased he had been caught drink-driving because it would stop his partner warning him to stay sober behind the wheel.
The officers in the police car had to swerve to avoid an oncoming car overtaking on double yellow lines.
They turned round and stopped the car, being driven by Patrick Joseph Hobson, then 24, further along the road.
"I have been doing this for a while, I am glad you caught me as my missus will be happy," Hobson told police.
He was convicted, fined $200 and disqualified from driving for six months.
It wasn't just drivers that proved easy to catch.
A burglar was arrested in Hastings in May after a police patrol spotted him walking down a suburban street carrying a 107cm plasma television. The arrest was one of eight in 24 hours after a spate of burglaries.
And in the Bay of Plenty, Kawerau copper thieves were lucky to be alive after their actions caused the explosion of a Horizon Energy power pole in early September.
The theft of a copper earth wire with a scrap value of around $20 and tampering with a switch resulted in a fireball that spread burning debris over a 5-metre radius.
A spokesman for the Horizon electricity lines company, Derek Caudwell, said the thieves were lucky to be alive. "It is highly likely that they suffered burns at least."
Christchurch police likened the actions of a cannabis-smoking tagger to the movie Dumb and Dumber after finding the culprit asleep in his car with bright green paint on his hands.
Kaiapoi Sergeant Mike Brooklands said it appeared the suspect and his companion fell asleep after drinking too much and smoking cannabis. He could hardly contain his laughter after rousing 33-year-old Samuel More.
Police were alerted after a member of the public found graffiti sprayed over rocks and a rubbish bin at Kairaki Beach.
"One of them had decided to tag the rocks and rubbish bin to match the tag on the rear of his car."
More pleaded guilty at Dunedin District Court to intentional damage and possessing cannabis and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service.
In April, a young man admitted he was stupid after urinating on a wall at the entrance to the Greymouth courthouse in daylight, and in plain view of court staff.
Lucas Duncraft, then 20, who had bypassed the public toilets inside the courthouse, ran off and when spoken to by police denied the offence. But he was convicted, fined $180 and sentenced to 40 hours of community work.
