Court relives Two Ronnie's Four Candles sketch as shoplifter is jailed

Updated
Carl Morley
Carl Morley



Carl Morley, a 33-year-old from Belvoir Street in Normanton, has been jailed for 21 days, in a crime that has sparked memories of a classic Two Ronnies Sketch. Morley visited Boots in Derby last week, and stole four candles.

The Daily Mail reported that he had admitted to stealing the Yankee Candles, in the hope of selling them to raise money for drugs. The Derby Telegraph reported that the crime breached a suspended sentence he was already serving for stealing £250 worth of coats, so the judge sentenced him to 21 days in prison.

Four Candles sketch
Four Candles sketch



The sketch

The crime has sparked memories of a classic Two Ronnies sketch from 1976, in which Ronnie Barker is trying to buy items from a hardware store - run by Ronnie Corbett. Corbett gets increasingly frustrated by a number of misunderstandings: including the moment when Barker seems to ask for 'Four candles', but when Corbett places them on counter he says "No, fork 'andles!'.

The sketch is hailed as a classic - and was once voted the greatest that the pair ever performed. The script was actually sold in 2007 for £48,500.

It was such a favourite, that during Ronnie Barker's funeral, as the choir processed into the church, the vergers carried four candles.
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Not the first

The crime is a bizarre coincidence, but perhaps more bizarre is that it has happened before. In April last year, two men in Ayr Sheriff Court admitted to stealing four candles. During that case, the prosecutor clarified: "It's four candles M'Lord – not fork handles." The men in that case had been drinking before carrying out the theft.

Back in 2013, when a 27-year-old was found guilty of taking four candles from a garden centre in Dundee, the Sheriff asked: "Are messrs Barker and Corbett to be witnesses for the Crown?"

Ronnie Corbett's Wife: 'He's Fine and the Show Goes on'
Ronnie Corbett's Wife: 'He's Fine and the Show Goes on'






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