Have You Seen Lettuce Man?

A police force has been criticised for releasing an e-fit of a man wanted over a burglary, which appears to show him with a lettuce on his head.

Hampshire Police have released the image as part of their investigation into a burglary at a house in Stockbridge near Andover on 27 August 2010 in which money was stolen from an 85 year old woman's handbag.

Many of the tabloid papers have criticised the picture with headlines like 'Lettuce find him' and 'Lettuce nick him'.

Hampshire Police insist the man's facial features are a good likeness, given the information they received from the victim.

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesperson said: "We make every effort to ensure that the e-fits we circulate are as accurate and detailed as they possibly can be from the description provided by the witness.
 
"This is borne out by the quality and detail contained within the facial features. We are though, currently experiencing technical problems with the quality of the hair and are waiting for an upgrade to the system from the company who provides us with the software.
 
"It is important to point out that the suspect in this case is described as having blond-grey hair."
 
"We have a duty to do all we can to identify those involved in crime, prevent further occurrences and protect the public and while the hair on this image may not be of the best quality, it takes nothing from the overall clarity of the facial features. It would therefore be wrong to withold the release of the e-fit just based on this technical issue.
 
"We would never release an e-fit a victim disagreed or was unhappy with and in this instance the victim fully supported the publication of this image.

Anyone with information about the burglary is asked to contact DC Danielle Robinson at Andover CID on 101 (if calling from Hampshire). Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.