Paris: A French robber has been captured after DNA evidence was found on the cheek of a jewellery shop owner he had kissed apologetically after binding and gagging her for hours during a raid.

The unnamed 20-year-old and an accomplice trailed the 56-year-old employee of a Paris jewellery store to her home and seized her. They tied the woman to a chair and gagged her before pouring what they said was petrol over her head, threatening to light it unless she co-operated.

A jewel thief has been caught by DNA evidence after kissing his victim. Credit:AFP

"She finally gave them the codes to the jewellery store's alarm system and safes," a police source told Le Parisien newspaper. "One of the two assailants then went and stole the money and jewels." Four hours later her kidnapper untied the woman before making his costly mistake.

"This hoodlum planted a kiss on her cheek, apparently in a sign of compassion after the terrible ordeal she had just been through," the police source said.