Turning disability into a criminal advantage.

ROBBIE is a 23-year-old from Sunderland who's been a persistent offender for more than a decade. He began by shoplifting and, after becoming good at that, decided it was time to move on to bigger things, such as thieving from cars and burglary.

He and the others featured in this documentary all have a criminal history. The other thing they have in common is that, in various ways, they are disabled.

Robbie has no legs. He was nine when a train ran over him during a botched attempt to steal coal. A heroin habit in his teenage years drove his crime spree. In his eyes, crime gave his life a purpose. It would be strange if the loss of his legs - the stuff of nightmares, which he described in graphic detail - hadn't affected his psychological make-up.

All those in Crocks And Robbers have used their disability for criminal purposes. Some have reformed now, others seem hellbent on working outside the law. Robbie actually found being in a wheelchair an advantage for shoplifting as people didn't really want to look at him because of his disability.

Despite having no lower limbs, he showed himself a nifty mover, able to scale walls and stairs unaided. Once, his pursuers got his wheelchair but not Robbie, who escaped over a fence.

Born with only half a right arm, Bob became a feared hard man, serving time for burglary, arson and crimes of violence. He customised his false arm into a lethal weapon, nicknaming it "the equaliser". "You have to try much harder to compensate for the arm being missing. Confidence is the answer. If you don't have confidence, the world will walk all over you," he says.

Darren, a paraplegic in a wheelchair, robbed a fish and chip shop with an imitation gun. He made his getaway and hid in a pub 100 yards down the road. The police caught up with him, having followed the tracks left by his wheels on the wet pavement. He got a two-year suspended sentence and now runs his own Internet marketing business.

Prison has failed to deter Robby. He feels the three-and-a-half years he's been inside was time well spent, partly because it gave him a roof over his head and three square meals a day. But he adds: "The amount of money I've made and the jail I've done, it's well worth it. I say crime does pay," he says.