Bingo brings down the robber gendarme

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Derek Brown in Brussels ___

DAVID Saucez's bank robbing was as bad as his bingo. Desperate to pay off his gambling debts, he held up his local bank and made off with around Z2,000 before turning up for work - as a member of the Belgian gendarmerie.

It was the easiest arrest his colleagues could have possibly expected. For Saucez not only used his service pistol in the hold-up, but also made his get-away in his own easily recognised family car.

The car's number was taken by the manager of the Sud Belge bank in the Brussels suburb of Schaer-beek. He witnessed the hold up, but was unnoticed by Saucez.

The unhappy gendarme told colleagues who arrested him that he had run up a debt of 60,000 Belgian francs (around Z800), playing bingo. He was also paying off a home loan, and his wife - who works in another bank - did not know of his gambling.

Saucez, described as a "model gendarme" with six years' service, said he considered robbing the same bank the week before. His nerve failed at the last moment, and he ended up asking for advice on a loan.

On Monday this week he returned to the same bank, and the same temptation. This time it was too much.

He told arresting officers: "I had no intention of committing a hold-up. I left the barracks to go to the bank and request a delay in repaying my loans. It was on the way there that I decided to take action."

He was well equipped for the job, if not the getaway. Producing his service pistol, he demanded and got the money and then made off in his distinctive red Vauxhall.

He was already late for duty, but paused on the way to pay off 20,000 francs of his debt. By that time the net was inevitably closing in.

The gendarmerie, having answered the manager's alarm call too late to catch the robber red-handed, at least had the information to catch him red-vehicled.

They traced the car number to Saucez, alerted his unit in Brussels, which said he had been on duty but was now absent. A few minutes later he turned up complete with the hold-up weapon, the getaway car, and the remainder of the loot in his pocket.

B Here are the main events in the story. Rearrange them into the correct sequence and number them 1-9. The first is done as an example:

Alarm raised by manager	Arrested	Decided to rob bank
Found himself in debt	Paid part of his debts	Played bingo I
Reported for duty	Robbed bank	Was afraid to rob bank