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Oops! The Silly Mistakes Thread

David Cameron left daughter in pub
David and Samantha Cameron left their eight-year-old daughter alone in a pub as they travelled home from Sunday lunch with friends, it emerged last night.
By Nick Collins
6:30AM BST 11 Jun 2012

The Prime Minister, his wife and three children had enjoyed an afternoon meal with two other families at The Plough in Cadsden, Bucks, when they took their eye off their eldest daughter Nancy.

When the family gathered their things and left Mr Cameron shared a car with his bodyguards while Samantha followed behind with son Elwen, six, and daughter Florence, 22 months.

The Prime Minister thought Nancy was in the car with his wife, while Samantha thought she had jumped in with her father. It was only when both cars pulled up to Chequers, two miles away, that they realised she was not there. :shock:

A Downing Street source said the "distraught" parents rushed inside and telephoned the pub, where staff reassured them that their daughter had been found alone in the lavatory and was being looked after.

The staff knew who the girl was but had been unable to contact her parents because, as one pub insider put it: “It’s not like you can look up David Cameron in the phone book and then ring to say, ‘You’ve left your daughter behind’."
“You’d have thought someone would have done a headcount or something," the insider told The Sun. "Pub staff found their daughter in the toilet and didn’t know what to do.
“It’s frightening the Prime Minister of Britain can forget something so important as his own daughter.”

Mr Cameron jumped straight in the car and rushed back to collect his daughter, arriving at the pub about 15 minutes after the family had originally left.

Upon his arrival he was relieved to find Nancy contentedly helping out the staff, according to reports. Downing Street confirmed the incident had happened after a Sunday lunch but the exact date was not known.

Mr Cameron's friends have recently told how he likes to "chillax" at his country retreat during weekends, sometimes enjoying three or four glasses of wine with lunch.
He also unwinds by watching films on television and is partial to an afternoon nap, it was claimed.

The Plough is described on its website as "a traditional old English pub with a warm welcome" and "the perfect stop off point to enjoy a quiet drink, good quality food and a friendly atmosphere, all in stunning surroundings".
It serves "home cooked hearty food" using locally sourced ingredients and boasts a beer garden situated in an "area of outstanding natural beauty", it claims.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... n-pub.html
 
One of the tabloids, probably the Mirror, has used the headline Man Leaves Child, 8, in Pub. I like how that takes the piss out of the usual Moral Outrage story style aimed at lower class people.

My mum used to accidentally leave me and the dog at the supermarket. They'd phone her once she was home and remind her. :)
 
rynner2 said:
This one is a classic!

The mystery of Ireland's worst driver

Details of how police in Ireland finally caught up with the country's most reckless driver have emerged.

He had been wanted from counties Cork to Cavan after racking up scores of speeding tickets and parking fines.

However, each time the serial offender was stopped he managed to evade justice by giving a different address.

But then his cover was blown.

It was discovered that the man every member of the Irish police's rank and file had been looking for - a Mr Prawo Jazdy - wasn't exactly the sort of prized villain whose apprehension leads to an officer winning an award.

In fact he wasn't even human. :shock:

"Prawo Jazdy is actually the Polish for driving licence and not the first and surname on the licence," read a letter from 2007 from an officer working within the Garda's traffic division...
Click to expand...

Hmmm...

Man swore at paramedics

A POLISH man swore at paramedics who picked him up for being drunk because those were the only English words he knew.

Mie Kulpa, 68, was found lying in the road in Higher Union Lane, Torquay, and put in the back of the ambulance.

Prosecutor David Burgess told magistrates in Torquay he then unleashed a 'torrent of Polish words' before gesturing at a female ambulance crew member and swearing three times.

Defence solicitor Alan Parsons said Kulpa was a professional engineer in his homeland and travelled regularly to see a friend in London.

But on the day of the incident he had been refused a concessionary coach ticket to travel to the capital and instead bought a bottle of Lambrini and drunk it.

"He knows very little English," said the solicitor.

"He does know that particular expression because it's been said to him by a number of people in Torquay and Paignton. What he intended to say was 'leave me alone I want to go'.

Kulpa, of no fixed abode, was fined 135 after admitting breaching an anti-social behaviour order and being drunk in a public place.

http://www.paigntonpeople.co.uk/Man-swo ... story.html
 
Mie Kulpa?

How's that pronounced? 'Mea Culpa'?

And why is Alan Parsons involved with this? I want to know.
 
"...and instead bought a bottle of Lambrini and drunk it."

Hmm, surely he drank it? He drank it, and got drunk. ;)

(Writes Ape Dant)
 
How easy is it to forget your children?

David Cameron's daughter was accidentally left behind after a visit to the pub. It's a scenario that's familiar to many parents, writes Kathryn Westcott.
For people who don't have children - or for those parents who are super-organised - the idea that a child could be left behind by a parent is simply outrageous. Forgetting your keys or wallet is acceptable but never a child.

But there are many parents who will identify with that feeling of horror when the realisation dawns that a child has been left behind somewhere. The Camerons were said to have been "distraught" when they realised that eight-year-old Nancy had been forgotten when the family left for home in two separate cars.

It's a heart-stopping moment - one that my family experienced not that long ago. Anyone with children will know that trying to get a group of them out of the house - shoes, hats, toilet runs - often needs to be planned with military precision.

And if there is a large party of folk to be extracted from the house, one parent may set off with half the gaggle, leaving the remainder with the other.

In our case, we streamed off down the road for a family event at the local church, three generations in tow. It was only when one five-year-old asked where his similarly aged cousin was that panic set in. Frantic messages were verbally sent between the grown-ups, until we discovered that he hadn't been seen since we left the house. After a mad dash down the street, we discovered him at home, oblivious to the alarm that had been caused by that moment of parental negligence.
Like the Camerons, one parent simply assumed he was with the other.

Justine Roberts, of the Mumsnet website, says that this is a familiar scenario for many parents.
"Many people will have some understanding of how this happened to the prime minister and his wife. Particularly if you are a family with two cars, there is the assumption by one parent that the other parent has a particular child. Everyone can see how it happens - particularly the more children you have - when you become outnumbered."
She says that any inference that the Camerons are not good parents or that the prime minister is unfit to run the country is "cynical".

"It's a case of but for the grace of God go I," she says. "Kids are good at rushing off at the last minute - going off to the toilet without telling anyone - sneaking into the cars of other people in the group. I have four children and I've probably lost all of them at some time or another." 8)

From the messages left on parenting forums and stories that have been shared with readers and listeners to the BBC, it seems many parents have forgotten a child.
Rod Symmons recalls the time his daughter, who was four at the time and a bridesmaid, was left behind after a wedding.
"The reception was held at the South of England Showground and we were the last to leave," he told the BBC.
"My wife and I were in separate cars and each thought Jenny was with the other. By the time that we discovered she wasn't, the building had been locked up.

"Desperate by then, we found someone to open it but could not find her inside. My wife then remembered that she had seen some of the older girls riding in the lift earlier in the day and went to look.
"Sure enough Jenny was inside the lift, but not tall enough to reach the buttons. She was just beginning to panic and I shall never forget the relief of finding her."

Leaving a child inside or outside a shop appears to be the most common misdemeanour.
Many parents excuse such behaviour by arguing that they are often simply functioning on autopilot, that they are tired and distracted. One mother said she left her week-old baby in the Post Office because she "wasn't used to having a baby".

Father Alasdair McFarlane told the BBC he accidentally left his six-month-old in a shop.
"I went to buy a newspaper leaving daughter in pram outside. I then proceeded to walk out of shop without collecting the pram. My wife was not happy when I returned home," he said. :twisted:

There have been numerous studies indicating that people are becoming increasingly forgetful as a result of modern hectic lifestyles. Researchers have labelled the condition "busy lifestyle syndrome", with stress being the possible culprit behind day-to-day memory lapses.

"Parents are increasingly busy," says Roberts. "In many cases both are working long hours - these are easy mistakes to make. Of course, it's horrific when it does happen, but it's a function of all the rushing around that people are doing.
"If it hasn't happened to you, you're either obsessive or lucky."

Every now and again stories at the other end of the spectrum will hit the headlines.
In 2008, a child was left at an airport in Israel after her parents accidentally took a flight to Paris with four of their five children. Most parents writing on forums said there was simply no excuse for this level of negligence.

And there have been incidents of forgetfulness that have had tragic consequences - typically involving children left in cars on a hot day.

Leaving a child behind is a nightmare for any parent - but it is one that many parents have to admit has happened with them

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18394690
 
Father Alasdair McFarlane told the BBC he accidentally left his six-month-old in a shop.
"I went to buy a newspaper leaving daughter in pram outside. I then proceeded to walk out of shop without collecting the pram. My wife was not happy when I returned home," he said.
Click to expand...
I did exactly that, myself. It can happen to absolutely anyone.
 
Mexico: 'Mistaken identity' over Guzman drug arrest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18561819

Mexican marines believed the car salesman they arrested was a growing force within the Sinaloa cartel

Mexico's drugs war

Gruesome tactics
Q&A: Drug violence
Hunting El Chapo
Marching on?

Mexico's government has admitted that it mistakenly identified a detained man as the son of the country's most-wanted drugs lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

On Thursday officials paraded before the media a man they said was Jesus Alfredo Guzman, whose father leads the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

But the arrested man was in fact Felix Beltran Leon, a car salesman, the attorney general's office said.

The authorities had hailed the arrest as the most important in years.

Known as El Chapo" or "Shorty", Joaquin Guzman has been in hiding ever since he escaped from prison in 2001.

The Sinaloa cartel controls much of the flow of cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine to the United States.

'Embarrassing U-turn'

Felix Beltran Leon's distraught mother said the family had no connection to the Guzmans
The BBC's Will Grant in the capital, Mexico City, says within hours of the high-profile arrest, doubts had started to be cast on the official version of events.

A lawyer proclaiming to speak for the Guzman family released a statement denying that the suspect in custody was the drug boss's son.

Mr Beltran Leon's mother then spoke to journalists and denied any link to Joaquin Guzman or the Sinaloa cartel.

It took another few hours, while identity tests were carried out, before the government admitted it had made a huge mistake.

In less than a day, the episode has transformed from an apparent coup against one of Mexico's biggest drug cartels to a major embarrassment for President Felipe Calderon's administration, our reporter says.

US agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, were among those that had applauded the arrest.

On Thursday, the Mexican Navy had said that Jesus Guzman - known as "El Gordo", or "The Fat One" - was a growing force within his father's cartel and controlled most of its trade between Mexico and the US, where he was indicted in 2009.


Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman photographed when under arrest in 1993
El Chapo was jailed in 1993, but escaped from his maximum-security prison in a laundry basket eight years later.

The US state department has offered a reward of up to $5m (£3.2m) for information leading to his arrest.

Our correspondent says if nothing else, the debacle goes to underscore how murky and confused the world of drug cartel arrests and government intelligence has become in Mexico.

With few recent photos of the main players in the drug world available, there may be more such cases of mistaken identity to come for the Mexican armed forces, he says.

More than 55,000 people have died in Mexico in drug-related violence since President Calderon declared war on the cartels nearly six years ago.
Click to expand...
 
Ok this one is a little old but still amusing.

This Message from NORAD Announced Global Nuclear War—In 1971
Ten bells, and not seven trumpets, announced the apocalypse on February 20, 1971. It was 10:33AM, and teletypes in every single radio and TV station across the country rang those bells to announce an incoming message that nobody had received before.

It was a message that announced the end of the world, sent by the North American Aerospace Defense Command—NORAD.

It was the teletype you are seeing above. It told everyone that any broadcast had to be interrupted and emergency protocols had to be activated—a non-descriptive way of saying that, from that moment, the United States of America was at war with the Soviet Union.

A neutral way of saying that nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles were, at that time, flying to drop multiple atomic warheads over their targets all over the planet.

The teletype contained the correct password that authenticated the message. It was real. For the thousands of news people who received it, the teletype was sent by NORAD. It wasn't fake. It wasn't a drill. The birds were flying and the world was ending.

Fortunately, it was a mistake. Various teletypes sent later repeatedly told everyone that it was an error. That the world wasn't going to end, after all:
Click to expand...

More at link.

Question for some of our older members. Do you remember this happening??
 
Am I right in thinking even if most civilians heard it, they wouldn't have known what it represented? I wonder if there's a modern equivalent?
 
Gun instead of TV: Washingtonian receives not quite what he ordered on the Internet
http://rt.com/usa/news/gun-dc-rifle-horvitz-199/
Published: 08 August, 2012, 23:37

While guns may be easy to come by in the US, one man did not even have to try. A Washington DC resident was shocked to find a high-caliber, semi-automatic assault rifle on his doorstep, when he was expecting a brand new television.

Seth Horvitz had ordered a large, flat-planel TV from Amazon for him and his pregnant wife to enjoy. After the oddly shaped package arrived, the young man was shocked to discover a $2,132 Sig Sauer SIG716 patrol rifle. Its manufacturer calls it “the rifle of choice when you require the power of a large caliber carbine.”
“Items get mixed up sometimes, but never on this scale,” Horvitz told the DCist. “I didn’t think I was getting into a gun/electronics dealer.”

The law in Washington, DC prohibits the possession or transportation of firearms into or through the District, regardless of whether or not the owner has a permit or license to carry one. Finding himself unable to carry the rifle to the nearest post office to return to its sender, Horvitz called the Metropolitan Police Department, which immediately dispatched two officers.

“Police were a little confused at first, they’ve never seen anything quite like it,” Horvitz told Fox 5 News. “They just took my information and then said we’ll handle this weapon because it’s illegal to keep here. It’s illegal to transport in a car, so it can’t be returned.”

The mix-up comes at a time when US gun laws are being heavily disputed after two separate shootings this summer. James Holmes shot 70 people in a movie theater in Colorado last month, killing 12. Wade Michael Page fatally gunned down 6 people worshipping at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin on Sunday.

The fact that a semi-automatic assault rifle ended up on the doorstep of a man who didn’t order it is disconcerting to police officers in the District – especially since it is illegal for gun providers to mail a firearm to the address of someone without a Federal Firearms License.

“Clearly, it’s a dangerous situation in America when assault weapons are so prevalent and can so easily end up in the wrong hands, especially given that the rifle was left on the doorstep,” said Caroline Brewer, spokesperson for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Thank goodness, Mr. Horvitz and his wife alerted the Metropolitan police right away. This mishap could have led to another tragedy.”
Click to expand...
 
Put this on Facebook so I can *like* it. :lol:
 
'Dead' Swindon man to lose home over tax error
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-19205405

Related Stories

HMRC chases more tax defaulters
HMRC 'misleading' on tax credits

A Swindon man says his family are going to lose their home because a tax credit error listed his status as deceased.

Matthew Jay's former employer accidentally sent incorrect details to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) which stated he left because he had died.

The father-of-two has since been unable to claim family tax credits and has fallen behind with the rent.

HMRC said the problem will be resolved within seven days, but the family's landlord has asked them to move out.

'Absolutely sick'
Mr Jay said: "I pay my National Insurance and tax every week, and they can see clearly if they check their records that I am alive."

His partner, Katrina Johnson, said she felt "absolutely sick" about the situation and fears she will be seen as committing fraud.

An HMRC spokesperson said: "When errors are made by others or by HMRC we correct them as soon as possible."

The family is seeking advice from the local Citizens Advice service.

Deirdre Moss, a lawyer with Lemon & Co in Swindon said the family should be entitled to claim compensation and costs from HMRC.

She said: "We frequently claim costs off the Inland Revenue because they lose papers and take forever to deal with things and they generally pay up."
Click to expand...
 
Wedding stopped as congregation hunt for ring
It is the stuff of sitcoms and nightmares: the best man losing the ring in the middle of a wedding ceremony.
By Anita Singh
11:39PM BST 09 Sep 2012

For one couple, the scenario was all too real. Elizabeth Gray and Lewis Aubrey were in the middle of their vows when Lewis’s brother, Matt, dropped the ring.
Flower displays were pulled apart, carpets lifted and floor grates removed, all to no avail. The mortified best man even let guests rummage inside his sporran, but the ring was nowhere to be found.

After 10 minutes of fruitless searching, the bride’s mother offered the use of her own ring so that the couple could be married.

Guests continued to scour St John’s Church in Redhill, Surrey, while the bride and groom posed for photographs. The newlyweds then headed off to their reception, believing they would never see the ring again.

However, the Rev Nicholas Calver was not one to give up easily.
He returned to the church armed with a spade and, after two hours, found the missing band.
“I couldn't believe something could disappear so thoroughly,” he said.
“I was determined to find it and went back to the church in the evening. In the end, there was a crack between the step and the raised dais.

“I thought it must be down there so I levered them apart with a spade to make the gap bigger, shone a torch down and saw the ring. I was delighted to find it.
“I took it down to the reception and the best man was standing outside. I poked him in the ribs and said 'you owe me a drink'. He was overjoyed.” :D

Rev Calver accompanied Mr Aubrey into The Cambridge Hotel in Horley, Surrey where the bride, a Gatwick Airport worker, was presented with the ring by her husband, who works as a train driver.
“We went in and the groom put the ring on the bride's finger and I did the little bit about 'take this ring' in front of everybody,” said Rev Calver.

Kelly Love, one of the bridesmaids, said: “All of a sudden, Matt bowled in looking really proud of himself, holding a ring in the air with the vicar behind him.
“I have never heard a noise like it. The whole place erupted. The vicar was like a hero.
“Everything had been going so well when the wedding service began at the church. The bride and groom were there on time,the weather was lovely, the church was beautiful.

“The vicar had just started the service when all of a sudden I heard this 'pling'. I think the whole church heard it.
“The vicar turned to Matt and said, ‘Was that the ring?' Matt said yes. At that point all eyes turned to the floor. We thought we would find it quickly and get on with the ceremony.

“But the more time that went by, the more people came from the congregation to look. There were ushers lying on the floor, people lifting up carpets. We had all the grates in the church floor up. By the end we probably had about 20 people looking.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... -ring.html
 
Not a good start...

Channel Islands freight ship hits rock on maiden voyage

A cargo ship has run aground on its maiden voyage from Southampton to the Channel Islands.
The £8.8m Huelin Renouf Dispatch hit a rock off the coast of Alderney at around 19:00 BST on Friday.
The captain of the new 90m (295ft) vessel issued a distress call after running aground on a isolated rock one and a half miles south-west of Alderney.

The lifeboat Roy Barker One was on the scene within 15 minutes.
Damage to the Dispatch was assessed and it was found that water was coming in at the stern of the stricken vessel, which had a crew of eight.
The leak was contained and the 2,500 ton ship was floated off the rock just before 20:00 BST before heading to Falmouth at half-speed, where it is now in dry dock.

The ship was on a round trip from Southampton to Jersey then to Guernsey, Alderney and back to Southampton.
Richard Evans, chief executive of Huelin Renouf Shipping, said the crew and cargo were safe.
He said: "We have initiated the most appropriate contingency plan to ensure that we continue to deliver to our customers.
"There is a specific challenge with the Alderney cargo which we are managing, otherwise our service continues to run as normal."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe- ... y-19685189

I used to sail those waters quite regularly, and they are very dangerous, with jagged rocky coastlines and very strong tides. However, we're on neap tides at the moment, and the weather here was fairly quiet last night, so this was probably a navigational error, although a new ship should have had all the latest gear. Perhaps the newness was part of the problem, with the crew not as familiar with the ship as they should have been.

Heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow, otherwise I might have gone to the docks for a few pics...
 
Man freed after getting his head stuck in bin in Aberdeen

Firefighters were called out to rescue a man whose head was stuck in a public litter bin in Aberdeen.
It is not yet known how the man got into the predicament, which happened on the city's Justice Street.

Emergency services were alerted to the man stuck with his head in the opening of the 4ft-high bin early on Sunday evening.
A spokesman for Grampian Fire and Rescue Service said the man was not injured.
He was taken to hospital for a check-up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-n ... d-19783214

Or perhaps this should be in Strange Folk...
 
Head in bin man William Middleton: 'I was looking for my hat'

A man who had to be rescued after getting his head stuck inside a bin in Aberdeen has said he was trying to recover his hat.
William Middleton said he had been nicknamed "bucket heid" after a photograph of his ordeal were shared on social media sites by tens of thousands of people worldwide.

He was cut free by firefighters after the alarm was raised on Sunday.
He said: "I was looking for my hat. I was stuck for about 20 minutes."
Mr Middleton, 53, explained: "I couldn't get my head out. It was shocking. It was stinking. I'm now known as bucket heid." 8)

One witness, who did not want to be named, said: "I walked around the corner and saw his walking stick on the ground and his bum sticking out and said 'that's Willie'.
"Me and my pals tried to pull him out but his ears were stuck."

Mr Middleton was taken to hospital for a check-up, but a photograph of his ordeal soon spread across Twitter and Facebook.
The incident happened in Aberdeen's Justice Street.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-n ... d-19790191
 
I'm impressed the reporter managed to get a quote. I love Scotland dearly, and visit often, but I do find certain regional accents impenetrable. Conversations usually proceed as described by Mark Wallington...

"Nice day!"

"Scrun de noon de heavy."

"Ah. Do you live locally?"

"Nots the veri, lass."

"I see. Can I buy you a drink at all?"

"That's very kind, I'll have a pint of Tennants..."
 
The bar concerned has been named in the forum section of the Lancashire Evening Post. I'd be surprised if it isn't removed.

If it the fault of the bar it should be shut down. Who the hell gives a customer access to liquid nitrogen at a fatally cold temperature?
 
The head in the bin story recalled this thread from a couple of years back:

Bottle Bank Rape*

Oor Wullie's pride may have been further dented by the fact that no one even debagged him!

:hah:

*Please consider the vinegar-faced response to have been made already. I doubt if any students were harmed in the making of this Urban Legend!
 
The teenager who drank the liquid nitrogen has now had her stomach removed. :shock:

Granada Reports is running a big story on it, with demonstrations an' everything.

I can remember seeing drinks looking very like the one I've just seen (a cocktail glass full of overflowing, murky steam) on comedy programmes as a kid, where the comic intention was to suggest an enemy spy, say, being plied with an obviously deadly poison. Never thought I'd hear of anyone actually swallowing one!

In other Manchester news, a man who posted offensive comments about April Jones on Facebook has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison. Just saying.
 
escargot1 said:
I can remember seeing drinks looking very like the one I've just seen (a cocktail glass full of overflowing, murky steam) on comedy programmes as a kid, where the comic intention was to suggest an enemy spy, say, being plied with an obviously deadly poison.
Click to expand...
Probably dry ice. Could still give you a burn if handled, though.
 
The pond life who posted comments on Facebook apparently smirked as he was led away.

They really should have let the public get hold of him.
 
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