WHAT A SUCKER! A LEECH LEADS POLICE TO A MAN WHO ROBBED AN OLD LADY!

A blood-sucking vermin helped put a robber behind bars this week.
Australian police used DNA from a leech found at a 2001 crime scene to put a man who admitted to robbing an elderly woman behind bars, officials told The Associated Press. Forensic science researcher Sally Kelty said this is the first case in Australia - and maybe the first case ever - where investigators have used DNA from a blood-sucking animal to nab a criminal.

"It's certainly unique and shows how the boundaries of DNA technology have been pushed since it was first introduced to Australia 22 years ago," she said.

So how did this little bloodsucker help police catch Peter Cannon? The animal suckled the blood on Cannon's arm as he and his accomplice tied an elderly woman to a chair and robbed her. The duo stole several hundred thousand dollars from 71-year-old Tasmanian resident Fay Olson.

At some point during the crime, the leech dropped off Cannon's arm and landed in the crime scene. When police came to the woman's house, they took blood from the leech. It was the only forensic evidence found at the crime scene.

But it wasn't until Cannon was arrested last year on drug charges that police were able to finally catch the crook. After arresting him, they took his DNA and realized that it matched the DNA taken from the leech at the 2001 robbery.

Cannon pleaded guilty to aggravated armed robbery in Tasmanian Supreme Court on Monday. He faces a maximum sentence of 21 years.

Detective Inspector Mick Johnston told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio that Olson has "waited a long time for closure to this matter and it's nice to be able to deliver that."