Homeless man stumbles on to ‘festive present’ of £264,000

FRENCH detectives are hunting a homeless man who made off with a “Christmas present” of €300,000 (£264,000) after striking lucky while rummaging through bins at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

CCTV footage shows the 50-year-old rifling through rubbish at terminal 2F of France’s biggest air hub when he accidentally leans against a door leading to the cash depot of Loomis, a transport company. Incredibly, the door opens as it was ajar after security personnel apparently failed to shut it properly.

In what Le Parisien called one of the

‘This tramp benefited from a series of coincidences to hand himself a huge Christmas present’

biggest “bloopers” in the annals of crime, the man made off with the huge stash armed only with “luck and chutzpah”. A source close to the inquiry told the French paper: “It is true this was totally fortuitous. This tramp benefited from a series of coincidences to hand himself a huge Christmas present.”

CCTV shows the man seen leaning on the door of the cash depot and to his surprise, it opens. He leaves his suitcase outside and enters. A few minutes later, he is seen leaving with two large bags stuffed with cash. He is last seen heading in the direction of a road not covered by CCTV.

Police recovered his suitcase, but it was empty. Although they do not have his name, the man is known to security as one of 100 homeless people searching the airport for scraps.

A source said: “He’s been wandering the area for some time. For the moment, he hasn’t come back.”