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Sunday, January 11, 2009
Babysitter bundled crying baby into a tumble drier so she could watch TV
A babysitter has been charged with murder after putting a baby in a tumble drier so she could watch television undisturbed. Arielle Smith, 19, has been told she faces a second degree murder charge after the horrific incident in Harvey near New Orleans, Louisiana.
Prosecutors say Smith put five-month-old Andre Jenkins in the tumble drier because he would not stop crying. Smith, who was babysitting two other children including her one-year-old son and Andre's 18 month old brother, switched on the machine and watched as the baby span round.
Jenkins died from a skull fracture and horrific burns caused by the 175C temperature inside the drier. "She was trying to watch something on television," said Assistant District Attorney Amanda Calogero said. "She put the two older kids in a room, and she put the baby in the dryer and turned it on."
Later Smith called the boy's mother Brandy Dozier and told her Andre was not breathing. Dozier had dropped her sons off at Smith's home while she went to work. Smith claimed she had spilt a pan of boiling water on him - but later confessed to putting the boy in the drier and turning it one.
Medical experts said the baby suffered second degree burns caused by the scalding temperature inside the drier. The baby had burns on his feet, face, head, arms and legs. He is thought to have been in the spinning drier for up to three minutes. Smith told detectives she took the baby out and replaced the clothes that had been inside.
At first she claimed she was playing a game of hide and seek with the other children and had placed the baby inside, then accidentally started the machine. But in a later police statement Smith said the children were "interfering" with her plan to watch daytime TV soaps. The incident took place in September but this week a grand jury ruled that the 19-year-old single mum should stand trial on a second degree murder charge after she was ruled mentally competent.
Prosecutors say Smith put five-month-old Andre Jenkins in the tumble drier because he would not stop crying. Smith, who was babysitting two other children including her one-year-old son and Andre's 18 month old brother, switched on the machine and watched as the baby span round.
Jenkins died from a skull fracture and horrific burns caused by the 175C temperature inside the drier. "She was trying to watch something on television," said Assistant District Attorney Amanda Calogero said. "She put the two older kids in a room, and she put the baby in the dryer and turned it on."
Later Smith called the boy's mother Brandy Dozier and told her Andre was not breathing. Dozier had dropped her sons off at Smith's home while she went to work. Smith claimed she had spilt a pan of boiling water on him - but later confessed to putting the boy in the drier and turning it one.
Medical experts said the baby suffered second degree burns caused by the scalding temperature inside the drier. The baby had burns on his feet, face, head, arms and legs. He is thought to have been in the spinning drier for up to three minutes. Smith told detectives she took the baby out and replaced the clothes that had been inside.
At first she claimed she was playing a game of hide and seek with the other children and had placed the baby inside, then accidentally started the machine. But in a later police statement Smith said the children were "interfering" with her plan to watch daytime TV soaps. The incident took place in September but this week a grand jury ruled that the 19-year-old single mum should stand trial on a second degree murder charge after she was ruled mentally competent.
Prince Harry called a fellow soldier his 'little Paki friend'
Prince Harry should face disciplinary action for calling an Asian soldier "our little Paki friend", critics said last night.
The third in line to the throne apologised after film footage emerged of him making the racist comment while training at Sandhurst military academy. The film was recorded by the prince himself three years ago when he was 21. Another video showed him describing another officer cadet a "rag-head".
Campaigners said the apology did not go far enough and he should be reprimanded by the Army for his behaviour. Other soldiers would be asked to resign immediately, critics said.
The comments triggered fresh criticism over his suitability as an Army officer. Prince Harry, who once went to a fancy dress party as a Nazi, has rehabilitated his image in recent years, including carrying out a tour of duty on the frontline in Afghanistan.
St James's Palace insisted that although the terms were used without malice, Prince Harry understood how offensive the term "Paki" was. The film was obtained by the News of the World. Prince Harry was heard speaking behind the camcorder as he videoed different colleagues. When he passed over an Asian soldier he stopped, zoomed in, and is heard to say: "And here is our 'Paki' friend." Then he moved on to someone else.
The trainee officer – identified as "Ahmed" – was unaware of the racist comment.
The third in line to the throne apologised after film footage emerged of him making the racist comment while training at Sandhurst military academy. The film was recorded by the prince himself three years ago when he was 21. Another video showed him describing another officer cadet a "rag-head".
Campaigners said the apology did not go far enough and he should be reprimanded by the Army for his behaviour. Other soldiers would be asked to resign immediately, critics said.
The comments triggered fresh criticism over his suitability as an Army officer. Prince Harry, who once went to a fancy dress party as a Nazi, has rehabilitated his image in recent years, including carrying out a tour of duty on the frontline in Afghanistan.
St James's Palace insisted that although the terms were used without malice, Prince Harry understood how offensive the term "Paki" was. The film was obtained by the News of the World. Prince Harry was heard speaking behind the camcorder as he videoed different colleagues. When he passed over an Asian soldier he stopped, zoomed in, and is heard to say: "And here is our 'Paki' friend." Then he moved on to someone else.
The trainee officer – identified as "Ahmed" – was unaware of the racist comment.
British tourist hangs off cliff after crashing car in Turkey
A British tourist hangs precariously over a cliff after crashing her rental car in Turkey.
Paula Corp, 34, had a lucky escape after losing control of her car and ending up wedged between a villa and an electric transformer on a road in the southern Turkish city of Mugla.
Firemen took two hours to rescue Paula and used a crane to get her down from the car.
She was taken to hospital with minor injuries but later released.
Video. Scroll down.
Paula Corp, 34, had a lucky escape after losing control of her car and ending up wedged between a villa and an electric transformer on a road in the southern Turkish city of Mugla.
Firemen took two hours to rescue Paula and used a crane to get her down from the car.
She was taken to hospital with minor injuries but later released.
Video. Scroll down.
Desert island hunt for British jet skier
The wife of a British jet skier who went missing more than two months ago off the coast of Bali has said she is hopeful he may be alive and stranded on a desert island.
Jacqui Hoyland has vowed to "leave no stone unturned" as she uses her husband Jeremy's mobile phone records to trace his last journey. The 41-year-old made a number of calls for help after encountering mechanical problems and it is thought he may have got caught in a current and swept off course.
The area to be searched, based on the phone records, is different to the one scoured when he first disappeared on October 24.
Preparing to fly out to Bali, Mrs Hoyland, from Penistone, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, said: "Ultimately we have to find something because it's so difficult for us."
There are a number of small islands in the region - and Mrs Hoyland said she was "very encouraged" that the Indonesian ambassador, Yuri Octavian Thamrin, said it was possible the jet skier had drifted to one of them. "He definitely shares our optimism that Jeremy may be alive on an uninhabited island," she said.
An Indonesian expert is also expected to help analyse the currents in the area and a South Yorkshire Police liason officer will accompany Mrs Hoyland and her brother-in-law Nicholas during their sea and air hunt.
Jacqui Hoyland has vowed to "leave no stone unturned" as she uses her husband Jeremy's mobile phone records to trace his last journey. The 41-year-old made a number of calls for help after encountering mechanical problems and it is thought he may have got caught in a current and swept off course.
The area to be searched, based on the phone records, is different to the one scoured when he first disappeared on October 24.
Preparing to fly out to Bali, Mrs Hoyland, from Penistone, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, said: "Ultimately we have to find something because it's so difficult for us."
There are a number of small islands in the region - and Mrs Hoyland said she was "very encouraged" that the Indonesian ambassador, Yuri Octavian Thamrin, said it was possible the jet skier had drifted to one of them. "He definitely shares our optimism that Jeremy may be alive on an uninhabited island," she said.
An Indonesian expert is also expected to help analyse the currents in the area and a South Yorkshire Police liason officer will accompany Mrs Hoyland and her brother-in-law Nicholas during their sea and air hunt.
Photographers criminalised as police 'abuse' anti-terror laws
Reuben Powell is an unlikely terrorist. A white, middle-aged, middle-class artist, he has been photographing and drawing life around the capital's Elephant & Castle for 25 years.
With a studio near the 1960s shopping centre at the heart of this area in south London, he is a familiar figure and is regularly seen snapping and sketching the people and buildings around his home – currently the site of Europe's largest regeneration project. But to the police officers who arrested him last week his photographing of the old HMSO print works close to the local police station posed an unacceptable security risk.
"The car skidded to a halt like something out of Starsky & Hutch and this officer jumped out very dramatically and said 'what are you doing?' I told him I was photographing the building and he said he was going to search me under the Anti-Terrorism Act," he recalled.
For Powell, this brush with the law resulted in five hours in a cell after police seized the lock-blade knife he uses to sharpen his pencils. His release only came after the intervention of the local MP, Simon Hughes, but not before he was handcuffed and his genetic material stored permanently on the DNA database.
But Powell's experience is far from uncommon. Every week photographers wielding their cameras in public find themselves on the receiving end of warnings either by police, who stop them under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, or from over-eager officials who believe that photography in a public area is somehow against the law.
So serious has the situation become that the MP and keen photographer Austin Mitchell, chairman of the Parliamentary All-Party Photography Group, tabled an early day motion last March deploring the "officious interference or unjustified suspicion" facing camera enthusiasts around public buildings, where they are increasingly told that it is against the law to photograph public servants at all – especially police officers or community support officers – or that members of the public cannot be photographed without their written permission. The Labour MP is now calling for a photography code for officers so that snappers can continue going about their rightful business.
With a studio near the 1960s shopping centre at the heart of this area in south London, he is a familiar figure and is regularly seen snapping and sketching the people and buildings around his home – currently the site of Europe's largest regeneration project. But to the police officers who arrested him last week his photographing of the old HMSO print works close to the local police station posed an unacceptable security risk.
"The car skidded to a halt like something out of Starsky & Hutch and this officer jumped out very dramatically and said 'what are you doing?' I told him I was photographing the building and he said he was going to search me under the Anti-Terrorism Act," he recalled.
For Powell, this brush with the law resulted in five hours in a cell after police seized the lock-blade knife he uses to sharpen his pencils. His release only came after the intervention of the local MP, Simon Hughes, but not before he was handcuffed and his genetic material stored permanently on the DNA database.
But Powell's experience is far from uncommon. Every week photographers wielding their cameras in public find themselves on the receiving end of warnings either by police, who stop them under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, or from over-eager officials who believe that photography in a public area is somehow against the law.
So serious has the situation become that the MP and keen photographer Austin Mitchell, chairman of the Parliamentary All-Party Photography Group, tabled an early day motion last March deploring the "officious interference or unjustified suspicion" facing camera enthusiasts around public buildings, where they are increasingly told that it is against the law to photograph public servants at all – especially police officers or community support officers – or that members of the public cannot be photographed without their written permission. The Labour MP is now calling for a photography code for officers so that snappers can continue going about their rightful business.
Police use footprints in snow to track bungling burglars
A pair of suspected burglars were caught, carrying their loot, by London police officers who followed footprints they had unwittingly left in the snow.
The police were called to a break-in in Sutton, South London, on Monday to find a garage door open and several items missing. Officers soon noticed that two sets of footprints led away from the scene and down a side street. Rare snowfall in London, as temperatures reached minus 10C, meant the criminals had left a trail of evidence with every step along their escape route.
At around 4.30am, with local residents still in bed, the trail in the fresh snow was unsullied by commuters. Officers, accompanied by sniffer dogs, were able to follow the prints along Glebe Road, across driveways and down alleys.
For an hour they traced the footprints for more than a mile along Sandy Lane, Scotsdale Close, across the A217, then into Summerville Gardens, and into Quarry Park Road. A milkman they passed on the route confirmed that he had seen two people hurrying down the street a few minutes earlier.
Finally, they turned into Antrobus Close where they discovered a pair of teenagers, aged 16 and 17, with a number of electronic items. Subsequent searches uncovered further goods including iPods and mobile phones that are believed to have been stolen. Police said two people have been bailed pending further enquiries.
Dave Willis, from Sutton CID, said: “This was an excellent piece of work by our colleagues. We are more used to using powder to find fingerprints to help solve crime, but on this occasion the dusting of snow has helped us recover a significant amount of stolen property.”
The police were called to a break-in in Sutton, South London, on Monday to find a garage door open and several items missing. Officers soon noticed that two sets of footprints led away from the scene and down a side street. Rare snowfall in London, as temperatures reached minus 10C, meant the criminals had left a trail of evidence with every step along their escape route.
At around 4.30am, with local residents still in bed, the trail in the fresh snow was unsullied by commuters. Officers, accompanied by sniffer dogs, were able to follow the prints along Glebe Road, across driveways and down alleys.
For an hour they traced the footprints for more than a mile along Sandy Lane, Scotsdale Close, across the A217, then into Summerville Gardens, and into Quarry Park Road. A milkman they passed on the route confirmed that he had seen two people hurrying down the street a few minutes earlier.
Finally, they turned into Antrobus Close where they discovered a pair of teenagers, aged 16 and 17, with a number of electronic items. Subsequent searches uncovered further goods including iPods and mobile phones that are believed to have been stolen. Police said two people have been bailed pending further enquiries.
Dave Willis, from Sutton CID, said: “This was an excellent piece of work by our colleagues. We are more used to using powder to find fingerprints to help solve crime, but on this occasion the dusting of snow has helped us recover a significant amount of stolen property.”
Plucky pensioner, 94, beats off burglar
A 94-year-old Essex man fought off a burglar by punching him in the face. The pensioner was confronted by the intruder in his bungalow in Harlow at about 10.30pm on Thursday, police said.
But the burglar fled empty-handed after being thwarted by the elderly resident.
The Essex Police spokesman said: "The 94-year-old occupant had been retiring for the night when he heard a strange noise elsewhere in the property. As he went to investigate, he was confronted by the thief, who demanded the owner hand over some money. The resident refused and instead punched his assailant in the face."
Police said the intruder then "ransacked" the property before leaving empty-handed, having smashed a photograph of the man and his deceased wife.
Detective Constable Jay Mccreath, of Essex Police, said: "This burglar should be ashamed of himself as not only was he foiled by a man nearly three times his age but also that he should stoop to such despicable levels by smashing a photograph of sentimental value."
The burglar was said to have been aged in his late 20s to early 30s. He was described as white with long mouse brown hair and about 5ft 6in tall. Police said he might have a "slightly bruised face" following the incident.
But the burglar fled empty-handed after being thwarted by the elderly resident.
The Essex Police spokesman said: "The 94-year-old occupant had been retiring for the night when he heard a strange noise elsewhere in the property. As he went to investigate, he was confronted by the thief, who demanded the owner hand over some money. The resident refused and instead punched his assailant in the face."
Police said the intruder then "ransacked" the property before leaving empty-handed, having smashed a photograph of the man and his deceased wife.
Detective Constable Jay Mccreath, of Essex Police, said: "This burglar should be ashamed of himself as not only was he foiled by a man nearly three times his age but also that he should stoop to such despicable levels by smashing a photograph of sentimental value."
The burglar was said to have been aged in his late 20s to early 30s. He was described as white with long mouse brown hair and about 5ft 6in tall. Police said he might have a "slightly bruised face" following the incident.
Police arrest 280 pound nude protester
A buxom 20-stone woman ripped off her clothes when police went to arrest her. Then Margaret Barrow, 45, jumped in a bubble bath and refused to climb out.
Five officers were drenched as they tried to haul her free.
They finally succeeded — but then she refused to dress and they had to march her naked to the police station.
Officers had gone to her home after she stormed into another house “like a raging bull” and launched a political and racist rant.
Barrow, from Woking, Surrey, blamed police for not protecting her dignity as she appealed against her conviction for obstructing them.
But a judge at Guildford Crown Court dismissed the case and ordered her to pay £100 costs.
Five officers were drenched as they tried to haul her free.
They finally succeeded — but then she refused to dress and they had to march her naked to the police station.
Officers had gone to her home after she stormed into another house “like a raging bull” and launched a political and racist rant.
Barrow, from Woking, Surrey, blamed police for not protecting her dignity as she appealed against her conviction for obstructing them.
But a judge at Guildford Crown Court dismissed the case and ordered her to pay £100 costs.
Pub bans stripy jumpers
A bar has told how a gang of stripy jumper-clad troublemakers led to it temporarily banning the garment.
Striped jumpers headed up a list of prohibited clothing which was posted on the doors of the Walkabout bar in Dalton Square in the run-up to Christmas.
Other items on the list – which are more commonly banned at licensed premises – included 'hoodies', tracksuit pants and Rockports.
Young people in Lancaster were shocked after hearing of the ban.
One, Lee Sibbert, 18, of Morecambe, said: "It's a bit harsh. It's just a jumper – it doesn't make you a madman." Another Caroline Donnan, 21, a student at Lancaster University, added that the ban appeared to be stereotyping people.
But a Walkabout spokesman explained that the restriction was a response to problems with a gang behaving aggressively towards customers and staff. They were all wearing either striped jumpers, hoodies and/or tracksuit pants and had to be removed from the bar by staff.
Striped jumpers headed up a list of prohibited clothing which was posted on the doors of the Walkabout bar in Dalton Square in the run-up to Christmas.
Other items on the list – which are more commonly banned at licensed premises – included 'hoodies', tracksuit pants and Rockports.
Young people in Lancaster were shocked after hearing of the ban.
One, Lee Sibbert, 18, of Morecambe, said: "It's a bit harsh. It's just a jumper – it doesn't make you a madman." Another Caroline Donnan, 21, a student at Lancaster University, added that the ban appeared to be stereotyping people.
But a Walkabout spokesman explained that the restriction was a response to problems with a gang behaving aggressively towards customers and staff. They were all wearing either striped jumpers, hoodies and/or tracksuit pants and had to be removed from the bar by staff.
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