Robert (left) and James Fellows

Claire Fellows recalls that when her son James was about three he was easily led by his elder brother Robert. Robert was very bright, and could be a little obsessive about stories. "He used to get up incredibly early in the morning - at 4.30 or 5.00 - and get up to all sorts of naughtiness basically". He phoned people, or played with the video, or made cakes on the floor.

Claire had borrowed a book from the library about a gang of pigs who robbed banks. "The illustrations in the book were gorgeous, these little pigs robbing a bank, and it just seemed to catch the boys imagination". The boys decided that they would emulate the pigs. They got up very early one morning, and took a mallet and a hammer out of their dad's toolbox, let themselves out of the house, and went off.

The first Claire knew of it was when the phone rang at about 7am, and Claire's husband ran downstairs to find the front door wide open. The man at the other end of the phone asked Claire's husband Martin if he was missing anything. Thinking they'd been burgled he replied that "he hadn't had a chance to look yet". The man then identified himself as a policeman phoning from Lewes police station where they were holding James and Robert. Claire, who was eight months pregnant at the time, lumbered out of bed, and they rushed to the police station wondering what on earth the boys had been up to.

What had happened was that a woman had been intending to get money out of the cash machine, and discovered two little boys hammering away at the cash machine, inspired by the book Claire had been reading them. She'd asked the boys what they were doing, only to be told by Robert "We're robbing the bank". When asked if their parents knew where they were Robert replied "No, they're in bed". They accompanied the woman to the police station, and by the time Claire and Martin arrived they were thoroughly enjoying eating jam and toast with the policemen.

The book went back to the library pretty swiftly afterwards...