The offending posters, distributed in Christchurch, New Zealand. Photo: Simon Baker/AP
So police in New Zealand on the hunt for a burglar have stuck a snap of Robbie Coltrane on the wanted poster. They're legally barred from using a photo of the prime suspect as he's underage - but luckily he's a dead spit for Harry Potter's Hagrid.
"Robbie Coltrane is not the burglar," the small print explains, "but imagine him aged 16 with lank, greasy hair and you have the picture. The burglar lives locally and travels by bicycle to commit his crimes."
Are you imagining it? Not pretty, eh. That bicycle, too, is distracting: does it have adequate suspension? Are there panniers for all the swag? If only the cops had gone the whole hog and Photoshopped a photofit: Coltrane, his skin airbrushed to peel back the passage of time, matted locks glinting in the Kiwi sun, a flat-screen telly wobbling about in a wicker basket on his BMX.
Being compared to a celebrity isn't always flattering. Rarely is it Brad or Angelina who springs to mind when you describe someone with reference to a big screen star. I know a woman who's the double of Kathy Bates in Misery. A friend takes umbrage at being routinely compared to Philip Seymour Hoffman. Another is forever being mistaken for Emma Chambers, aka Stupid Alice in The Vicar of Dibley. Someone recently told me I looked like Paul McGann, which was challenging.
So which star would they stick on the wanted poster if you'd been thieving?
