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Forensics experts were able to snare a violent Birmingham robber who was high on drink and drugs when he left a DNA sample behind after vomiting on the floor of a house he had ransacked.

Christopher Cummings, of no fixed address, was identified by cops when he left a trace of saliva on a glass as his kind-hearted victims gave him a drink of water after he had been sick in their Edgbaston home in April last year.

He was jailed for eight-and-a-half years at Birmingham Crown Court when he changed his plea to admit robbery.

The court heard that Cummings, 30, charged into the property in April last year and pinned the terrified 90-year-old resident to the ground while his wife, also 90, looked on helplessly.

During the hour-long raid Cummings vomited on the floor. When the shocked pensioners offered him a glass of water he unwittingly left saliva on the glass and West Midlands Police forensics experts were able to recover a DNA sample.

Cummings and his accomplice – who has yet to be identified – made off with a small amount of cash, jewellery, an iPad and a mobile phone.

The man suffered a cut head and bruising, while his wife was treated for shock.

Cummings was later arrested in Birmingham city centre.

DC Martina Millar said: “The couple answered the door from two people claiming to be distant friends of their next-door neighbour and asking for a contact phone number.

“In fact it was Cummings and an associate checking who lived at the property and whether it was potentially a soft target – and they later returned, rushed inside and Cummings pinned the man to the floor.

“The victim said they smelled strongly of alcohol and during the raid Cummings was sick. Despite him putting this couple through a terrible ordeal they were kind enough to offer him a glass of water – but that turned out to be his undoing because we were able to swab the glass and obtain a DNA profile.”

Richard Small, the force’s Head of Forensic Science, said: “This was an interesting court case because no doubt many people would presume there was an abundance of DNA at the scene in Cummings’s vomit.

“However, there would be relatively little of the offender’s DNA contained within it – and would be contaminated with stomach acid and food – so the saliva would have provided a much better quality sample.”