US fugitives offered wedding deal

The fugitive couple were compared to Bonnie and Clyde

A US sheriff in Michigan has appealed to a pair of bank robbery suspects to surrender - offering to perform their wedding service himself in jail.

The 24-year-old man and his 23-year-old girlfriend used a toy gun to hold up a bank in their home town last month.

The $5,000 (£2,500) in stolen cash was used to buy wedding rings and clothes, and pay their overdue rent and legal fees in the woman's child custody case.

Sheriff Ron Kalanquin compared the couple to a "young Bonnie and Clyde".

He told the BBC he had offered to marry the young fugitives as an incentive to get them off the streets before they committed another crime.

I'm sure they felt this was their only choice but it was a very poor one Sheriff Ron Kalanquin

"In my experience, I have found that when these young people are cornered they will do irrational things and I'm trying to convince them to give themselves up," he said on BBC Radio Five Live.

Sheriff Kalanquin said he expected another robbery in the next few days but this time "perhaps with a real pistol and maybe a different result".

'Poor choice'

The bank robbery took place on 19 September at the Lapeer County Bank & Trust branch in Deerfield Township, about 96km (60 miles) north of Detroit.

Under Michigan state law, bank robbery carries a sentence of between 20 years and life imprisonment, even if a fake firearm was used, Sheriff Kalanquin said.

He added that it was likely that if they were caught elsewhere, they would be treated much worse than in Lapeer.

"It is difficult in Michigan for young people to find meaningful work... I'm sure they felt this was their only choice but it was a very poor one," Sheriff Kalanquin said.

He appealed to relatives and friends of the couple to alert police to their whereabouts.