Man who robbed two banks called police for help while standing outside third

Police said Florida man William Richard Kane III robbed a bank on Wednesday morning. Then, they said, he did the same thing on Thursday morning.

On Friday morning, he was about to rob a third bank, they said, when something stopped him. Kane called 911. The 51-year-old Oldsmar resident said he was stressed out and tired.



"He told dispatchers he wanted to go back to rehab," said St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz. "He'd fallen off the wagon." He also told the officers who arrived at the Wells Fargo Bank at 4125 Fourth St. N at about 10:15 a.m. on Friday that he was depressed and suicidal. Kane is addicted to crack cocaine, Puetz said.

Officers said Kane admitted to robbing St. Petersburg's First Bank at 6850 Central Ave. on Wednesday and then robbing the Chase Bank at 7360 U.S. 19 in Pinellas Park on Thursday. He was charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon and is being held in the county jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Cat survives 55-minute wash and spin cycle in washing machine

Not many people can tell you about that awful moment when they opened the washing machine lid and realised they had washed the cat. Adele Law of Gisborne, New Zealand can. “I lifted the lid and it was the most awful sight I have ever seen.” The family’s six-month-old kitten had been through a full 55-minute wash cycle that included a rinse and two spin cycles. She screamed to her son Tate, 7, “I just washed the cat!” Miraculously, the kitten survived . . . although Tate does think she has used all her nine lives. It was early on a school morning. Ms Law threw in half a load of washing, added the laundry soap, then had a shower. A while later, she came back and added more clothes to the wash, closed the lid and pushed “start”.

While she was showering, Possum the kitten had crawled in and curled up in the top-loader. The family went out and came back after the load had finished. That was when Ms Law heard a “terrible” high-pitched whine. “It was the most horrendous sound you have ever heard. I looked at the washing machine and said, ‘You’ve got to be joking’.” Inside was Possum, who Tate said looked like “a flattened starfish” against the side of the machine, with wet fur and looking like a “half- dead skinny rat”. Dad Barney Willson got the call from his partner “screaming and bawling her eyes out”. “I thought someone had died,” he said. He managed to get out of her what had happened.



In shock, and faced with the “grossest” sight she had ever seen, Ms Law had temporarily closed the lid on what she thought must have been a trauma the cat could not survive. “If that cat could talk, it would be calling you all sort of names,” said Mr Willson, teasing. Ms Law grabbed two towels and lifted a floppy Possum out of the machine and rushed the shaking kitten to the vet. The vet’s receptionist was serving another customer and Ms Law had to interrupt and say, “Look I’m sorry but I have a cat that has just been through the full wash cycle”. No one could believe the fluffy grey kitten had survived. If it had not been for the care and attention from Eastland Veterinary Services, she might not have made it, said Ms Law.

Possum was kept on a drip overnight and on an electric blanket to get her warm again. They think what saved Possum was the cold wash and that the washing machine was a model with no agitator in the middle. Veterinarian Will Halliday said it was certainly the first time they had seen anything like that. “She was quite dizzy, as you can imagine, after going through a spin cycle and incredibly lucky it was not a hot wash. She was a very soggy moggy.” Possum was hypothermic and so cold that her temperature did not even register on the thermometer. Back home in front of the family’s fire, Possum does not have a care in the world. The only noticeable change is that she has been “heaps friendlier” since the incident but will not go near the washing machine.

I alway knew rugby was a dangerous sport

As this gentleman discovered to his detriment during the Harlequins vs Saracens match at the Stoop on Sunday.


YouTube link.

Jimmy Savile and the Stranger Danger

In light of the current, decades old, allegations that the late Sir Jimmy Savile may have been something of a serial groomer and sexual abuser of under-age girls, it has come to my attention that back in 1985 he wrote the introduction to Irene Keller's need to know book, Benjamin Rabbit and the Stranger Danger : What a child needs to know about strangers.



Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Meanwhile on a bus in Manchester city centre

Man fined for culpably and recklessly aiming a water hose at passing vehicles

A Stirlingshire man has been fined after pleading guilty to culpably and recklessly aiming a water hose at passing vehicles. Darren Fotheringham, 23, admitted soaking passing drivers on the main road of Cowie on 27 of May. But he was cleared at Stirling Sheriff Court of causing an accident that followed the incident.

Sheriff William Gilchrist fined him £340, describing Fotheringham's actions as "stupid and alarming." Fotheringham had been using the hose to fill up a paddling pool in a friend's front garden. The court heard that as a car passed along the main road in front of the house, he aimed it straight through the open window, hitting driver Amy Skelton in the face. He then sprayed the jet at motorcyclist Robert Piper, who was riding behind Miss Skelton, soaking him down one side of his body.



Stirling Sheriff Court heard that chaos then ensued, as Miss Skelton stopped and reversed to give Fotheringham a piece of her mind, and Mr Piper ran into the back of her car, falling off his bike in the process. Fotheringham, from Cowie, pleaded guilty to "culpably and recklessly aiming a water hose into the faces of passing motorists". Originally the charge also alleged that his actions caused the accident, but the Crown accepted he was not directly responsible for the crash and this part of the allegation was deleted.

Defence agent Ken Dalling said: "The accident would never have happened if the car hadn't reversed. He regrets this behaviour and admits what he did was foolish." Sheriff William Gilchrist opted not to call for social background reports, which could have led to the imposition of a jail sentence, instead imposing a £340 fine. He told Fotheringham that his actions could have had more serious consequences. He said: "This was very stupid and alarming behaviour. Whether or not it caused an accident, and it's accepted that it didn't, it had the potential to do so."

Potter's wheel

Cat brushes fur on hedgehog

Probably catches fleas.


YouTube link.

SWAT team found cannabis farm, guns and a guard pig

A police SWAT team that searched a home in south Modesto, California, on Friday morning found marijuana, several firearms, pit bulls and an aggressive pig. Anonymous tips about a suspected outdoor marijuana grow led officers to the 100 block of Glenn Avenue, said interim Police Chief Gene Balentine.



Officers using a loudspeaker instructed the residents to leave the house. At least two men and two women came out. One of the women was allowed to go back inside to retrieve her child, Balentine said. A relative who wouldn't give his name said a man, woman and 4-year-old boy live in the home. The adult residents were detained and taken away in handcuffs. Martin Martinez, 51, later was arrested on suspicion of marijuana cultivation, possession for sale and weapons charges.

Before SWAT team members entered the residence, they set off a flash-bang grenade to get the attention of anyone else who might be inside. At least 16 surveillance cameras surrounded the property, mounted on the home and trees in the front and back yard. Two pit bulls acted as guard dogs, but neither was as aggressive as a large pig found on the property. "I've been doing this a long time and I have never seen a guard pig, but it was a pretty vicious pig," Balentine said.



The pig was tranquilized, but still lashed out at officers. It took six SWAT team officers to carry the pig to an animal control vehicle. It was later euthanized; the dogs were taken to the animal shelter. Inside the home, officers found an AK-47 assault rifle, two .45-caliber handguns and two shotguns, Balentine said. After SWAT officers cleared the home, the department's street narcotics team and street gang unit moved in and started cutting down about 20 large marijuana plants, Balentine said.

Polar bear attacked drunken lady with chicken legs

A polar bear attacked a woman who, after drinking too much alcohol, decided to feed the "clumsy" bear with chicken legs. The incident took place in the Chaunsky district of Chukotka, Russia's Far East. A policeman, who heard cries for help, saved the compassionate lady from the claws of the bear.

The incident occurred in the village Yanranay. Sergei Terekhov, an assistant to police precinct, heard the screams. The man grabbed a gun and ran out into the street. He saw a polar bear dragging the victim to the side of the tundra,.



The police officer wounded the animal with his first shot. The woman then managed crawled a few metres away from the predator. This made it possible to make another shot, which killed the bear. The woman was immediately sent to hospital. Doctors said that her life was out of danger: several bite wounds had been treated and stitched.

The villagers had been warned of possible appearance of polar bears in the area. A few days ago, a bear roamed into the village, but was driven out of the settlement. Local residents were asked to have their weapons at the ready, and not to go out unless necessary. However, the woman did not listen to the recommendations. Moreover, having spotted the polar bear among garbage bins, she decided to feed chicken legs to the bear.The victim admitted that she had taken alcohol prior to the incident "so the inadequacy of her behaviour was understandable.

Woman caught straddling boyfriend as he drove Porsche at 70mph on motorway told police she'd only been licking ice cream off his body

A half-naked Swedish woman trying to beat a reckless driving fine told police she was “licking ice cream” off a male driver’s body as the couple raced down the motorway in an open-topped Porsche. It was a fellow motorist who noticed that a woman was straddling the driver of an open-topped Porsche zooming down the E4 motorway near Linköping in central Sweden at the end of July.

When the Porsche passed the shocked driver, he realized that the woman was not only without a seat belt, but was sitting on the drivers lap facing him, something he considered to be potentially hazardous for other drivers. When police responded to the call and pulled over the Porsche, they noticed that the woman quickly switched to the passenger’s seat.



They also noted she wasn't wearing any pants. When confronted about why she was not in her seat, the half-naked woman told police that she was simply licking off ice cream that had spilled onto the Porsche driver’s body. During subsequent questioning, the man claimed he and the woman were being “a little naughty” and that his passenger was just “kissing away the ice cream”.

The woman later admitted, however, that she was doing "a little more than just clearing up the ice cream from the man’s face and body.” Now, both the man and woman have expressed regret over their actions, and acknowledge the risk they caused to other drivers, referring to their frisky frolicking as “impulsive” and “incredibly stupid”. The man was ultimately slapped with a 22,800 krona (£2,200, $3,500) reckless driving fine for the episode of motorway madness, while the woman was ordered to pay 8,400 krona (£800, $1,300) for her tongue-lashing antics.

Honest taxi driver who returned £6,000 cash given £1.68 reward

An honest taxi driver in Dubai who returned Dh36,000 (£6,050, $9,800) to a passenger left behind in his cab received a reward of Dh10 (£1.68, $2.72) in return. But the small reward doesn’t bother him, says Shaaban Ali, the Pakistani cab driver, employed with Arabia Taxi.

“I have to admit I felt a little bad because I spent a lot of time trying to track the passenger down and even spent more than an hour waiting at our office for him to come and collect the money. But I would have returned the money with or without the reward, so it doesn’t matter.”



The incident happened a few days ago. Ali’s cab was hailed by the passenger, a Saudi Arabian national, to go from Al Ghusais to Gold souq. After leaving him at the destination, Ali took another passenger. Along the way, he noticed the bag, close to the door.

After doing a few rounds of the area searching for the passenger without luck, Ali took the bag to his office. “The bag contained Dh36,000, the man’s passport and some other documents.” After he was informed, the passenger came to the office an hour later and collected his belongings. “He told me thank you and handed me Dh10,” said Ali, with a smile.

Maid who hadn't been paid for three months fined for attempting suicide

A maid in Dubai who was thrown out of her sponsor's house stood in the road waiting for a car to run her over, a court heard. "Yes, I meant to end my life by standing in the street," the maid, AM, 24, from Ethiopia, told the Misdemeanour Court.

She said she decided to kill herself after her sponsor refused to pay her for three months' work. The maid claimed she did not know the address of the villa at which she worked, but was thrown out on September 10 after her sponsor complained about her work the previous day.



She asked for her salary for the previous three months to be sent to her family in Ethiopia, but was told her sponsor did not have the money. After being kicked out, she had nowhere to go and did not know how to reach the agency that brought her to the UAE. "I found myself thrown away and I thought of my poor family back home. I felt desperate and decided I should die," she said. She stood in the middle of the two-way street and waited.

A policeman was driving near Al Jahith School when he spotted her. "I started talking to her to understand why she was standing there. When she told me I informed her it was wrong to do so," he said. "I finally managed to have her step aside." The court found her guilty of attempting suicide and fined her Dh1,000 (£170, $275).

Dentist creates musical drill to help ease patients' fears

A dentist in Indonesia has created a musical drill to help ease fears of the dreaded tool.

Dhanni Gustiana, a dental surgeon from Purworejo in Central Java, has modified a conventional dental drill by changing the buzzing sound to the music from a MP3 player.


YouTube link.

"The children are not afraid of doctor, many of them are afraid of drill. I modified this by putting a toy on the head of the drill and telling them that the toy will clean their teeth," said Gustiana.

He spent about six million rupiah (£370, $600) modifying the instrument, which gives his patients the option to request their own songs.

Man shot girlfriend dead for interrupting his sleep

Eric Brian Pauley told a Putnam County Circuit Court judge on Friday that he shot and killed his girlfriend last year because she interrupted his sleep. "She woke me up. . . . It made me mad she woke me up like that in the middle of the night," Pauley, 50, of Winfield, West Virginia, told Circuit Judge Phillip Stowers before he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Stowers questioned Pauley's state of mind and asked if the couple had been arguing when he shot Debra Rosiek, 52, at their trailer in Winfield in September 2011. "She come in, flipped the light on and started hollering," said Pauley, who noted that the couple normally got along and hadn't been arguing earlier that night.




Pauley told the judge he grabbed his pistol that was beside the bed and underneath a stack of folded clean clothes and shot his girlfriend of four years. After waiving a pretrial sentence investigation, Stowers accepted the plea arrangement offered by prosecutors of life in prison with mercy. Pauley already has served 378 days and will be eligible for parole after 15 years.

Pauley knocked on the door of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department at about 10 p.m. on Sept. 17, 2011, and told a deputy that he'd shot his girlfriend and believed she was dead. At the time, Detective Shawn Johnson said Pauley gave police a key to his home, and a deputy was then dispatched to Pauley's residence in the Winfield Mobile Home Village where Rosiek was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. Assistant Prosecutor Larry Frye told the judge his office offered Pauley mercy based on his confession and cooperation with police after the incident.

Search on for defecating desperado targetting woman's pool

Someone may have targeted a woman's home in Port St. Lucie, Florida, depositing piles of poo in and around the pool. Police on Sept. 21 documented the first incident at the Southeast Jason Avenue residence, according to recently released records.



The homeowner said she arrived at about 6 p.m. and found someone sliced a hole in her screen door leading to the pool. Nothing had been stolen from the patio area, but "someone had dumped faeces into her pool." "I observed this faeces sitting in the pool and it did not appear to be caused by an animal, but by a human," the report states.

Four days after the initial excrement incident, police were back at the same abode. A woman said she was watching the residence and caring for two cats. She found a sliding glass door closed but unlocked, and she saw damage on the door and lock that hadn't been there before. One cat was on the screen patio, the other hiding in the house.



"She also discovered someone had defecated on the pool deck near the pool," the report states. Nothing appeared to be missing, and there was no indication the person who forced open the door went through the residence.

Firefighters called to rescue man with head stuck in bin

A man had to be freed by firefighters after getting his head stuck in a bin in the centre of Aberdeen on Sunday.

Grampian Fire and Rescue officers called to the Castlegate took around 15 minutes to cut the 52-year-old man free.



The man, who is believed to be local, was taken by ambulance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he was treated for facial injuries before being released.

A Grampian Police spokesman said they were unsure what the man was looking for.

Buyers line up for £90,000 snooker table-sized apartment

Even the boldest estate agent would struggle to call it roomy. But less than a week after going on sale for £90,000, this 84 sq ft studio flat — about the size of a snooker table — has drawn more than 100 enquiries from prospective buyers.



The interest in the former broom cupboard-come-lavatory is a testimony to the power of location. It is in Brompton Road, London, directly opposite Harrods, and boasts 24-hour porter service. There is space for a single bed, kitchenette, shower, lavatory and fold-up table.

Matthew Fine, managing director of Hunters in Marylebone which is selling the 84-year leasehold flat on behalf of a corporate client, said he had received more than 100 calls and emails in the past few days. Of those, 40 people have booked in for a viewing, four have made offers and at least three more intend to join the bidding, he said.


YouTube link. Original video.

Mr Fine added: “It is absolutely the smallest place I have been involved with. When my colleagues told me about it, I said nothing can be worth so little in that location — then I saw it. But there is a novelty value that is attracting people, plus it ticks all the boxes for central London.” The £89,950 flat has an estimated rental value of at least £200 per week.

Squirrel living at top of Mount Snowdon is unlikely to have caught the train up

Staff in the highest building in Wales have been trying to catch a grey squirrel inside the visitor centre on the top of Mount Snowdon. It has been photographed near the dining area, and is believed to have stolen packets of nuts. Sheep, the odd seagull, mice and even frogs are seen on the 1,085 m (3,560 ft) peak, but it is the first squirrel.



Employees think it is unlikely to have hitched a ride on the train to the summit, and probably walked up. "It was first seen a couple of months ago, then it wasn't spotted again and we thought it had gone," said Jonathan Tyler, the summit manager. Staff in the building, Hafod Eryri, are trying to humanely catch it to "take it back to where it's more at home", he added.

"One of the supervisors then saw it this week, and managed to get a picture of it, so it is living here somewhere and it's trying to help itself to food," said Mr Tyler. "We're wondering if it's the highest squirrel in the UK. We can't see how it got here either, as it can't have come on the train and the tree-line is a good 700m below us."



Hywel Roberts, the senior reserve manager for north Snowdonia with the Countryside Council for Wales, said he was not surprised the squirrel had got up there. "They are getting everywhere as their numbers increase. I think it walked up as it's unlikely to have travelled on the train."

School bars parents from watching children's sports unless they've been cleared by police

A school has banned parents from watching their children take part in sports events – unless they are cleared by the police. Dad Neil Park, 54, fell foul of the new policy at Isambard Community School in Swindon, Wiltshire, when he was turned away on Thursday evening as he tried to watch his 12-year-old son George play rugby for the school.

He was told that to watch the game, despite him being a parent of a player, he needed to produce a police CRB form – which shows the holder has no criminal record relevant to being near children. “I was turned away from the school because I had not been CRB checked,” said the father-of-five. “I couldn’t believe it. Government guidelines state that parents are allowed to watch games.



“But any strangers can be questioned and requested to show the appropriate paperwork, which is fair enough. George was really upset by it all. What are they going to stop you going to next? Parents’ evening? The school play? Or what if England under 16s are playing at the County Ground , will they ask all fans there to be CRB checked?” The school says it has implemented the rule because of fears strangers can get into the rest of the school from the playing field.

A spokesman said: “It is with regret that from now on we will be unable to accommodate parents wishing to spectate at our sports fixtures unless they are in possession of an up-to-date Swindon Council CRB check. At Isambard we take safeguarding very seriously and because of this we are unable to leave gates open for access to sporting venues at anytime during the school day. The current access arrangements are frustrating for both Isambard staff and parents and have recently resulted in reception staff and PE staff being on the receiving end of verbal abuse from parents who have become frustrated trying to get into or out of the school.”