He may have thought it was going to be as easy as stealing candy from a baby, but separating a gold necklace from its 1-year-old wearer proved a bit trickier than a thief in Siem Reap had anticipated.

The petty criminal spied the 18-karat jewellery around the little girl’s neck on Wednesday while her mother was distracted by an exhibition of Thai products, but police saw his attempted dastardly deed and arrested him.

Koh Santepheap