A man dubbed "Germany's dumbest criminal" has been sentenced to four years in prison after he tried to rob a bank wearing a mask that he could not see out of.

With a coarse canvas sack on his head, the man bumped into customers as he entered the bank, brandishing a plastic knife and toy gun.

He lifted the mask and looked straight into the camera

Gerald Frost, Police Spokesman

He then had to lift the sack to demand money from the teller.

The robber ran away after being told that the money was in the safe, which could not be opened.

Security cameras behind the teller captured his face on film, and the felon was easily identified and captured.

'Amateur'

"He was a real amateur," said Giessen police spokesman Gerald Frost. "He lifted the mask and looked straight into the camera.

"He was quickly identified and arrested a day later."

On learning of the robber's escapades, Bild newspaper dubbed him "Germany's dumbest criminal".

Volker Kramer, spokesman for the Giessen state prosecutor's office, said the robber was convicted of attempted robbery late on Monday and sentenced to four years in jail.

Robbery history

This was not Giessen's first brush with unsuccessful, high profile thieves.

The town made robbery history when it became the scene of the first ever Euro robbery.

In September 2001, about euros 1.2m worth of the new notes was lifted from an armoured car in Giessen.

But the heist ended in failure.

Most of the money was recovered, and the van's 40-year-old Turkish driver was later arrested in Turkey.