Three bungling art forgers were sent to art school by a judge who felt sorry for them. The trio of would-be criminals, all aged in their 80s, had tried to copy famous sculptures to make some money to supplement their meagre pensions, but their plan had a tiny little flaw. None of them could actually sculpt. As a result, nobody bought their forgery.
Mr. Justice Havaheart heard how Mr. Deaf, Mr. Dumb and Mr. Blind set about forging a famous sculpture of Tutankhamun, which, they hoped, would net them millions now that King Tut is in the news. Mr. Deaf went to Croydon Library to get a book with a picture of the real sculpture, but the librarian gave him the wrong book. Mr. Blind did the sculpture, thinking that his artistic juices would compensate for his blindness, but the court heard that he was "dry as a bone". And Mr. Dumb rang up some auction houses to sell their work of art, but was lost for words. The plot, the prosecuting Counsel told the court, was doomed to fail.
The judge told the trio:
"You really are a hopeless bunch of misfits, aren't you? But rather than sending you to jail, I'm going to do what society should have done years ago and send you to art college."
