Saturday, September 20, 2008
Welsh man jailed over bizarre attack
A man who forced a householder to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep and lick his feet while filming the humiliating attack on his mobile phone has been locked up for three years. Gino Lee Breeze, 20, of Lon y Glyder, Bangor admitted assaulting the man when he appeared for sentence at Caernarfon Crown Court. The incidents happened at a house in Toronnen, Bangor on June 1.
Judge Michael Farmer QC said: "These are very serious offences. You are responsible for behaviour which beggars belief and which you captured on your own (mobile) phone. "These humiliating assaults took place over something like three hours. Fortunately the physical injuries are superficial and not permanent but the psychological damage you inflicted is considerable."
Breeze, the court heard, was visiting a friend on the Bangor estate on June 1 and his victim was chatting outside his home to a friend. Ian Evans, prosecuting, said the friend cracked a joke and both had laughed. Breeze wrongly assumed they were laughing at him.
A short time later Breeze went to the 45-year-old’s house and pushed his way in. He assaulted the man and then ordered him to lick his feet. "He filmed the incident on his mobile phone," Mr Evans said. Later that day Breeze returned to the man’s house and subjected him to a second ordeal. Mr Evans said Breeze got a knife and a fork from the kitchen.
"While holding the knife to the man’s ear and the fork near his eyes he ordered him to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep."
Owen Edwards, for Breeze, said the incidents were an "example of gross bullying of an older man". "He accepts his behaviour was despicable," said Mr Edwards.
Judge Michael Farmer QC said: "These are very serious offences. You are responsible for behaviour which beggars belief and which you captured on your own (mobile) phone. "These humiliating assaults took place over something like three hours. Fortunately the physical injuries are superficial and not permanent but the psychological damage you inflicted is considerable."
Breeze, the court heard, was visiting a friend on the Bangor estate on June 1 and his victim was chatting outside his home to a friend. Ian Evans, prosecuting, said the friend cracked a joke and both had laughed. Breeze wrongly assumed they were laughing at him.
A short time later Breeze went to the 45-year-old’s house and pushed his way in. He assaulted the man and then ordered him to lick his feet. "He filmed the incident on his mobile phone," Mr Evans said. Later that day Breeze returned to the man’s house and subjected him to a second ordeal. Mr Evans said Breeze got a knife and a fork from the kitchen.
"While holding the knife to the man’s ear and the fork near his eyes he ordered him to sing Baa Baa Black Sheep."
Owen Edwards, for Breeze, said the incidents were an "example of gross bullying of an older man". "He accepts his behaviour was despicable," said Mr Edwards.
Impaled man ‘out drinking not stealing’
A suspected museum thief who was impaled by a sharp spike on the top of a security fence in his rectum for two hours earlier this month says he did not feel any pain because he was drunk. He denied trying to break into the museum, but claimed he had been in the museum grounds to sleep off a drinking session.
Speaking from the Cambridge West home, in South Africa, he shares with his parents and siblings, Siyanda Pasiwe, 32, said he had been drinking somewhere in town that evening.
But because it was late and he was drunk, he decided to go into the museum grounds to sleep it off before walking home. “I woke up and decided to continue walking home, but when I saw a tree I thought I would be able to jump to the other side,” he said.
When he fell on the fence he did not feel the spike piercing his bottom and thought the fence had an electric force that was holding him to it . “I thought that the electric fence had a mechanism to keep me glued to it,” Pasiwe said.
Fire and rescue workers used an angle grinder to cut the steel spike off the fence.
Medical staff at the hospital, where the spike was removed, said Pasiwe had suffered severe rectal and intestinal injuries .
There are more graphic photos here.
Speaking from the Cambridge West home, in South Africa, he shares with his parents and siblings, Siyanda Pasiwe, 32, said he had been drinking somewhere in town that evening.
But because it was late and he was drunk, he decided to go into the museum grounds to sleep it off before walking home. “I woke up and decided to continue walking home, but when I saw a tree I thought I would be able to jump to the other side,” he said.
When he fell on the fence he did not feel the spike piercing his bottom and thought the fence had an electric force that was holding him to it . “I thought that the electric fence had a mechanism to keep me glued to it,” Pasiwe said.
Fire and rescue workers used an angle grinder to cut the steel spike off the fence.
Medical staff at the hospital, where the spike was removed, said Pasiwe had suffered severe rectal and intestinal injuries .
There are more graphic photos here.
Why Kenyan women crave stones
Nancy Akoth is four months pregnant and like many women in her state has strange cravings.
Some women eat coal, gherkins or soap but Mrs Akoth craves soft stones, known in Kenya, where she lives, as "odowa".
"I just have this urge to eat these stones. I do very crazy things, I would even wake up at night and go looking for them," she said.
"I consulted my doctor and all he told me is that maybe I'm lacking iron and gave me medication on iron, but I still have the urge to eat those stones."
Luckily for Mrs Akoth, she is not alone in craving stones and they are easily found on sale in Nairobi's sprawling Gikomba market.
Full story here.
Some women eat coal, gherkins or soap but Mrs Akoth craves soft stones, known in Kenya, where she lives, as "odowa".
"I just have this urge to eat these stones. I do very crazy things, I would even wake up at night and go looking for them," she said.
"I consulted my doctor and all he told me is that maybe I'm lacking iron and gave me medication on iron, but I still have the urge to eat those stones."
Luckily for Mrs Akoth, she is not alone in craving stones and they are easily found on sale in Nairobi's sprawling Gikomba market.
Full story here.
Flushed out for failing to flush
Officials in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh are being removed from their elected seats for not constructing flushing toilets.
Bilaspur district administration says it has sacked about 100 members for not building toilets in their homes.
Many people in India do not have access to flush toilets or other latrines.
But under new local laws, representatives are obliged to construct a flush toilet within a year of being elected. Those who fail to do so face dismissal.
The law making toilets mandatory has been introduced in several Indian states as part of the "sanitation for all" drive by the Indian government.
The programme aims to eradicate the practice of open defecation, which is common in rural and poor areas of India.
Bilaspur district administration says it has sacked about 100 members for not building toilets in their homes.
Many people in India do not have access to flush toilets or other latrines.
But under new local laws, representatives are obliged to construct a flush toilet within a year of being elected. Those who fail to do so face dismissal.
The law making toilets mandatory has been introduced in several Indian states as part of the "sanitation for all" drive by the Indian government.
The programme aims to eradicate the practice of open defecation, which is common in rural and poor areas of India.
Sperm warfare
Men are short-changed when it comes to birth control. Vasectomy is painful and not always reversible. Condoms blunt pleasure, break and slip off. Or there is that Russian-roulette standby, coitus interruptus.
But science finally may have found an answer for reversible, reliable and easy contraception for men with a new breed of futuristic, nonhormonal gizmos that promise a high-tech solution to sperm control.
Teams around the globe are developing new techniques that can block ducts in the testes, zap sperm before they come out of the body or even scramble sperm production.
Full story here.
But science finally may have found an answer for reversible, reliable and easy contraception for men with a new breed of futuristic, nonhormonal gizmos that promise a high-tech solution to sperm control.
Teams around the globe are developing new techniques that can block ducts in the testes, zap sperm before they come out of the body or even scramble sperm production.
Full story here.
Egyptian donkey jailed for theft
An Egyptian donkey has been jailed for stealing corn on the cob from a field belonging to an agricultural research institute in the Nile Delta.
The ass and its owner were apprehended at a police checkpoint that had been set up after the institute's director complained that someone was stealing his crops.
The unnamed ungulate was found in possession of the institute's corn and a local judge sentenced him to 24 hours in prison.
The man who had his ass thrown in jail got off with a fine of 50 Egyptian pounds (nine dollars, six euros).
The ass and its owner were apprehended at a police checkpoint that had been set up after the institute's director complained that someone was stealing his crops.
The unnamed ungulate was found in possession of the institute's corn and a local judge sentenced him to 24 hours in prison.
The man who had his ass thrown in jail got off with a fine of 50 Egyptian pounds (nine dollars, six euros).
Buffy the chicken faces the bald truth
Buffy the bald battery hen has been knitted a special jumper to keep her warm until her feathers grow back.
The chicken was desperately underweight when rescued and was in danger of shivering to death.
So an RSPCA volunteer used a baby outfit to make a woolly for Buffy, who is being cared for at the Brent Knoll centre near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
'When Buffy arrived she looked like she was oven-ready,' said deputy manager Emma Phillips. 'Sadly, we occasionally find hens in this state when we rescue them.'
There's a news video here.
The chicken was desperately underweight when rescued and was in danger of shivering to death.
So an RSPCA volunteer used a baby outfit to make a woolly for Buffy, who is being cared for at the Brent Knoll centre near Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
'When Buffy arrived she looked like she was oven-ready,' said deputy manager Emma Phillips. 'Sadly, we occasionally find hens in this state when we rescue them.'
There's a news video here.
Dog fitted with £10,000 bionic leg
A beloved pet bulldog has been fitted with a £10,000 bionic leg, which will help advance prosthetic techniques used to help bombing victims.
Coal, an eight-and-a-half year old hound had his left paw amputated because of cancer last year. He faced being put down because his other legs would be too weak to carry him.
But his determined owner Reg Walker, shelled out thousands of pounds to fit him with a sophisticated bionic leg, which was designed to be compatible with Coal's own tissue.
The titanium alloy used mimics animal hide, allowing the skin and the bone from above to seal the metal implant below without it being rejected by the body.
Vet Noel Fitzpatrick told the Enfield Independent: 'This is unique in that its the world's only implant into which skin and bone grow. It is the holy grail of research.'
Coal, an eight-and-a-half year old hound had his left paw amputated because of cancer last year. He faced being put down because his other legs would be too weak to carry him.
But his determined owner Reg Walker, shelled out thousands of pounds to fit him with a sophisticated bionic leg, which was designed to be compatible with Coal's own tissue.
The titanium alloy used mimics animal hide, allowing the skin and the bone from above to seal the metal implant below without it being rejected by the body.
Vet Noel Fitzpatrick told the Enfield Independent: 'This is unique in that its the world's only implant into which skin and bone grow. It is the holy grail of research.'
Size matters for hill reclassified as mountain
A Welsh hill has been upgraded to a mountain after three walkers found its official measurement was just too low.
Mynydd Graig Goch in Snowdonia was originally put at 1,998ft (609m), just short of the magic 2,000ft (609.6m) that qualifies as a mountain.
But the walkers found its true height is six inches over 2,000ft (609.75m).
Using "state-of-the art" equipment supplied by Swiss firm Leica Geosystems, the trio used satellite positioning to gauge the height in Snowdonia.
With news video.
Mynydd Graig Goch in Snowdonia was originally put at 1,998ft (609m), just short of the magic 2,000ft (609.6m) that qualifies as a mountain.
But the walkers found its true height is six inches over 2,000ft (609.75m).
Using "state-of-the art" equipment supplied by Swiss firm Leica Geosystems, the trio used satellite positioning to gauge the height in Snowdonia.
With news video.
Pub told traditional sign 'encourages drink driving'
A couple have been told to remove a traditional sign for a rural pub by officials who claim it encourages drink driving.
Landlords Trisha and Thomas Russell were told to remove the board, which shows an arrow beneath the words: 'The Black Dog, Chilmark, Bar and Restaurant' as it was deemed distracting to motorists.
The sign, the size of a sandwich board, was erected two decades ago, as the pub is located away from the main A303 road.
The couple, who took over the tenancy four weeks ago were surprised to hear they needed planning permission for the sign and were then shocked to receive an objection from the Highways Agency for their application.
A letter from the agency read: "The sign contains several lines of text and is therefore distracting to motorists. It is also advertising the use of a public house to motorists, potentially providing the temptation to drink and drive while using a long distance trunk route.
A spokesman for the Highways Agency said the letter could be "misconstrued" and there was no implication that signs of public houses would lead to an increase in drink driving.
Landlords Trisha and Thomas Russell were told to remove the board, which shows an arrow beneath the words: 'The Black Dog, Chilmark, Bar and Restaurant' as it was deemed distracting to motorists.
The sign, the size of a sandwich board, was erected two decades ago, as the pub is located away from the main A303 road.
The couple, who took over the tenancy four weeks ago were surprised to hear they needed planning permission for the sign and were then shocked to receive an objection from the Highways Agency for their application.
A letter from the agency read: "The sign contains several lines of text and is therefore distracting to motorists. It is also advertising the use of a public house to motorists, potentially providing the temptation to drink and drive while using a long distance trunk route.
A spokesman for the Highways Agency said the letter could be "misconstrued" and there was no implication that signs of public houses would lead to an increase in drink driving.
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