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Strange Crimes

Dinner party guest finds bodies in freezer
By Thair Shaikh
Published: 06 July 2007

A dinner guest found the bodies of her host's wife and their 12-year-old stepson in the deep freeze while helping to clear up after a party in eastern Belgium.

She had been one of several guests tidying up in the home of their 42-year-old host in the city of Verviers,78 miles east of Brussels, on Tuesday evening. She had just finished washing dishes and went to the freezer to store some leftover food when she made the gruesome discovery.

After telling fellow guests, they alerted police, but did not let on to their host about their find. He was then arrested and detained by Belgian police.

Police believe the bodies had been stored in the deep freeze for several weeks. They said that the party host, who has not been named, had a history of violent domestic disputes with his wife.

Christine Wilwerth, at the Verviers prosecutor's office, said that some guests had described the host as "ill at ease" during the evening. She said the suspect had indicated he had had a quarrel with his wife and that she had been stabbed.

However, he had made no explanation for his stepson's death. Some reports said that the boy had also been stabbed. Post-mortem examinations on both bodies are expected to be carried out today.

Ms Wilwerth said: "It was a lady who at the end of the meal at a friend's house, and after washing the dishes... decided to take the leftovers of the meal down to the basement to store in the deep freeze.

"Once she opened the deep freeze, she discovered the bodies. The couple was already known to police for domestic violence."

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2739806.ece
 
Novelist beaten up by the neighbours he wrote about
By Kevin Rawlinson in Paris
Published: 06 July 2007

It would have been like Quasimodo beating up Victor Hugo, but that's just what happened to a French writer, Pierre Jourde, who was set upon by the characters of his novel.

Five residents of one rural idyll in the mountainous Auvergne region, upset at his portrayal, were found guilty in court yesterday of assaulting him.

The tale, so fantastic it seems like a work of fiction in itself, began in 2003 when Jourde's novel, Pays Perdu (Lost Land) swept on to the book shelves and drew critical acclaim. The book recounted the day-to-day life in the farming village of Lussaud, where the author's father was born, but in none-too-flattering terms. It painted a vivid picture of the Sunday church service, where "hymns are interpreted without pleasure by people without importance, gently moving their lips".

It denounced the village's widespread alcoholism and revealed the 1960s affair between two neighbours, who have since returned to their spouses and whose children have married each other.

Jourde believed that simply changing the names of the characters would be enough to placate his neighbours. And initially, he felt the tactic had worked as there was little sign of grumbling. But it soon emerged that this was more down to the absence of a bookshop in Lussaud rather than the understanding nature of its residents. By word of mouth, the contents of the book spread around the village.

The author tried to defuse the situation by writing to each family in the village explaining the intention of his novel and claiming to be proud of his heritage. But to no avail. The people of Lussaud felt they and their ancestors had been betrayed by one of their own. On 31 July as the writer and his family arrived for their summer retreat, they saw a sign had been put up at the village entrance carrying an ominous allusion to the death of a poet. As they approached their farmhouse, which has been in the family for generations, neighbours began to spout abuse, calling Jourde's two children "dirty Arabs". Their mother is Arab.

The irate villagers then swapped insults for stones, hurling them at the car. One smashed a window and injured a 15-month-old baby inside. Jourde hit back, striking the ringleader, a 72-year-old man. That pensioner was fined €500, and his four accomplices received two-month suspended jail sentences.

Jourde, a professor of literature at the University of Grenoble and author of six books, has spoken of his fury that a writer cannot write about what he wants, and of the fact that there are now "no-go zones" not only in cities but also in villages.

The magistrate said: "All Pierre Jourde has done is to describe the solitude, the pain, the promiscuity," adding that there was also a lot of love and intimacy portrayed in the pages.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2739764.ece
 
'Flood Hoaxer' Remanded In Custody

Updated: 04:19, Saturday July 28, 2007

A 49-year-old man has been accused of impersonating a firefighter in a town hit by severe flooding, it has emerged.

Tewkesbury town signThe alleged hoaxer rang up the fire service and alerted them to what he claimed was severe flooding on a road in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.

He is then alleged to have arrived at the scene in a car with flashing blue lights and wearing full uniform.

The deception came to light when a Merseyside Fire and Rescue officer, who saw him on TV, realised his uniform was a fake.

The man appeared at Stroud Magistrates Court earlier this week charged with obstructing an emergency worker and was remanded in custody.

A force spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that there has been an incident involving a man impersonating a low-ranking firefighter.

"As a result, a 49-year-old Liverpool man was arrested on Wednesday, July 25 and charged with obstructing/hindering an emergency worker.

"He subsequently appeared before magistrates and was remanded in custody."
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Reminds me of the fake motorcycle paramedic who used to arrive at incidents on the Wirral before the real lot. That one wasn't caught, as far as I know.
 
http://archive.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/2004/9/16/39576.html

This one set up his own ambulance service and took people to hospital.

Man posed as paramedic given psychiatric assessment

From the Northern Echo, first published Thursday 16th Sep 2004.

A Walter Mitty conman obsessed with the emergency services launched his own ambulance service and transported patients dressed as a paramedic.

Audacious Terence Cooper has an astonishing history of impersonating police officers, donning uniform, checking cars and turning up at accidents.

A Crown Court Judge has also described him as a menace to society, capable of causing great damage to Britain's security.

He was jailed in 1994 after he used a fake police warrant card to obtain a high-powered transceiver to tune into wavelengths used by police, the MoD, the US Air Force and the security services.

He listened to confidential messages about security surrounding Royal events, and then sold the information to tabloid newspapers.

When he appeared before York Crown Court to be sentenced for his ambulance deceptions, his barrister Simon Bickler claimed his crimes could be caused by a mental disorder.

Judge Rodney Grant agreed to postpone sentence while he is assessed by a psychiatrist.

Cooper, 36, formerly of Wigginton Road, York, who moved to Somerset and now lives at a secret address, admitted a string of deceptions in April, but sentence has been delayed repeatedly for medical reports.

Mr Bickler said that Cooper could receive a community rehabilitation order with a condition to undergo psychiatric treatment instead of a prison sentence for his York deceptions.

He added that the conman hopes to study law and French at Bristol University.

It emerged that his history of impersonation and con tricks has landed him with prison sentences before.

After moving to York he set up the "Yorkshire Regional Ambulance Service" from his rented home.

With a website boasting that the service provided a 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, transport service to patients and hospitals and wearing paramedic uniform, he persuaded a series of top manufacturers that he represented the public ambulance service and was lent a series of executive cars to test drive.

He falsely claimed that he worked for the ambulance service to obtain emergency telephone services and to avoid rental payments on various vehicles, between December 2000 and October 2002.

A spokesman for Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service (TENYAS) said yesterday: "We take a very dim view of anyone posing as a paramedic, which potentially has very serious consequences."

Archive Home
From the Northern Echo
http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk
© Newsquest Media Group 2004
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Not sure of the relevance of this but I'll add it anyway (it's not brain surgery is it?).

There's a novel by Chris Simms about a bogus 'breakdown rescuer' who drives along motorways in the early hours killing people who have, er, broken down. All based around Manchester.

Outside the White Lines

I wonder if it's based on real events?

Told you it wasn't very relevant!
 
I don't care if it's based on truth or not, it's still yet another good reason not to go to Manchester. ;)
 
Church is baffled by case of the bell rope saboteur

From The Times, August 3, 2007
Simon de Bruxelles
Church is baffled by case of the bell rope saboteur

It is a mystery worthy of Miss Marple. The bells in an ancient Dorset church have been silenced for the first time in 200 years by an intruder who sawed part of the way through the ropes.

The sabotage came to light during an open day at St Peter’s Church, in the village of Long Bredy, in the Bride Valley. Three ropes snapped at least 15ft (4½m) above the ground. The ringing team was asked to stop and an inspection revealed that a fourth rope had also been partially severed.

What makes the mystery so intriguing is a growing suspicion that the sabotage may have been an inside job. Whoever it was knew that the key to the bell chamber was kept in the vestry and took the trouble to replace it before its absence was noticed. They then climbed the stairs to the bell chamber, unlocked a trap door and, standing on a bench, reached up to slice through the ropes exactly 18in (45cm) above the long, colourful handle known as a sally. Because the ropes were cut so high up, the damage was unnoticeable from the floor of the bell chamber.

The bellringers were giving a demonstration intended to recruit new members when the ropes gave way. Gwen Kinghorn, a regular bellringer, said: “They fell within a few minutes of each other. Nobody was hurt, it was just more of a fright.”

Pull the Other One

She added: “We thought it was just bad luck but when we had them examined by a bell hanger he said they had been cut. He examined a fourth rope that hadn’t come loose but had been cut halfway through. He was sure someone had sabotaged them.”

At first suspicion fell on a resident who had complained about the noise of the regular bellringing practice. But his involvement was ruled out on the grounds of age and infirmity.

Police are investigating the attack, which caused an estimated £400 of damage. Among the suspects are supporters of the ringers who have been trying to have the ageing ropes replaced.

Mrs Kinghorn, 53, who organised the open day, said: “One broken rope could be unfortunate, two a coincidence, but four is suspicious. Whoever did this must have planned it, this wasn’t just wanton vandalism. They knew the layout of the bell tower and where to cut the ropes.

The bell tower is locked and the key is kept in the vestry. He or she would have had to climb the steep stairwell, which isn’t easy, gone through the trap door into the ringing chamber, pulled the bench across, leaned over and pulled on the ropes to make the cuts. It is not the sort of thing a fainthearted person would do.”

The ropes are believed to have been cut during the day because of the difficulty in gaining access unnoticed after dark. A fifth rope was left untouched, a clue, Mrs Kinghorn said, that it could have been an inside job. To reach the fifth rope the intruder would have had to stand on a rickety trap door.

Andrew Nicholson, of Nicholson Engineering, based in Bridport, Dorset, said that he had never heard of three ropes breaking at the same time. Mr Nicholson, whose company specialises in the restoration of bells, said: “I’ve only ever come across cut ropes twice before in 25 years: one was vandalised, the other was eaten through by squirrels. The odds of it being a coincidence are remote.”

The Rev Bob Thorn, the Vicar of St Peter’s, said: “I have never come across a crime of this sort before.” A spokesman for Dorset Police said: “We were told that three ropes had come free and it might be the work of someone who doesn’t like the sound.”

The five bells of St Peter’s date from between 1627 and 1961. The last time that a crime connected to the bells was reported was in the 18th century, when one was taken down for repair. It was left unguarded and carried off in a wheelbarrow. The bell was later found in the church of the neighbouring village of Litton Cheney. Parishioners claimed to have paid for it, but a bad feeling between the two villages existed for some time.
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Russian 'serial killer' in court

A Russian man accused of being one of the country's most prolific serial killers has appeared in court.
Alexander Pichushkin faces 49 murder charges, allegedly carried out between 1992 and 2006.

The 33-year-old told Moscow City Court he wanted to be tried by jury, rather than face a panel of judges. The trial is expected to begin on 13 September.

Police said he told them after his arrest he planned to kill 64 people - one for each square on a chess-board.

Prosecutors said they had enough evidence to charge him with 49 murders - but that police were still investigating several other cases.

After the 15-minute hearing, his lawyer Pavel Ivannikov told reporters: "My client understands that he is to blame for most of these murders."

Correspondents say the main issue for the jury to decide will be whether or not Mr Pichushkin is sane.

If convicted, he faces life in prison, as Russia currently has a moratorium on the death sentence.

Prosecutors said he befriended many of his victims - mostly men - by promising them alcohol.

When they were too drunk to resist, he would bludgeon them to death with a hammer or push them into a sewage pit, according to prosecutors.

Several of the victims were found in Bitsyevskiy park in south-west Moscow, leading the media to dub the killer the "Bitsyevskiy maniac".

Mr Pichushkin, who worked at a grocery store in south-west Moscow, was arrested in June 2006 on suspicion of killing a female colleague, whose body was found in Bitsyevskiy park.

The woman, Marina Moskaleva, had reportedly left Mr Pichushkin's number with her son before she was killed.

Most of the murder charges relate to a spate of killings that began in 2000, and led to bodies being found in many parks and other places across the Russian capital.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6944807.stm
 
Bells stolen in raid on workshop

Three bells each weighing about a tonne and believed to be worth about £30,000 have been stolen from a Devon workshop.
The theft has devastated parishioners from All Saints church in Merton near Hatherleigh who had raised thousands of pounds to have them restored.

The three bells, made from 70% copper, were taken in Tavistock on Monday night.

A forklift belonging to the workshop was used to hold open a shutter door while the bells were dragged out.

The vicar of All Saints, Revd Christian Merryvale, said parishioners were in a "state of deep shock".

"People in the parish have been working very hard for many years to restore the bells.

"At the same time we are glad that the man restoring them was not in his workshop and therefore suffered no injury when the incident took place."

Police are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/6948757.stm
 
Orkney vandal leaves vital clue
By Kate Devlin
Last Updated: 1:57am BST 17/08/2007

It was hardly the perfect crime, but when a tourist scrawled his name on a 5,000-year-old ruin on an isolated Scottish island he presumably thought he would evade detection.

However, police are confident they will apprehend the vandal today - as he boards the ferry he has booked back to the mainland.

The unwelcome visitor to the ancient stone houses of Skara Brae, on Orkney, wrote "Brian Finlay slept here 13-8-2007" on a bedpost inside one of the homes.

Underneath was drawn a picture of a smiley face.

Police have matched the name to the owner of a Hyundai car who is currently visiting the island and is due to travel back today.

Skara Brae, regarded as one of the best preserved neolithic villages in Europe, is one of Orkney's most important historic sites and attracts thousands of visitors every year.

It was discovered in 1850 in the wake of a severe storm that hit the area, revealing the outline of a number of stone houses and other buildings. Radiocarbon dating has shown that the village, which has eight buildings, dates from between 3200 and 2200BC.

The graffiti was discovered early on Tuesday morning and the police were contacted immediately. They believe the culprit used his own name.

Acting Sgt Andy Hill, from Northern Constabulary, said: "We have identified a vehicle which will be travelling to the mainland on Friday and we hope to speak to its occupants."

He added: "All incidents of vandalism, particularly those in the public eye, are treated extremely seriously."

Mary Dunnett, monument manager of the site, said she was "disappointed" that anyone would vandalise the site.

She said: "We get thousands of visitors here every year and it is very sad and disappointing that one of them would want to do this."

The World Heritage site had suffered only one previous attack of vandalism, she added, and that was many years ago and "on a much smaller scale".

Staff at Historic Scotland, the body that manages Skara Brae, are assessing how to remove the graffiti. Security at the site will also be reviewed.

Vandalism can carry penalty of up to 60 days in jail or a fine of up to £1,000.

http://tinyurl.com/3yy6pz
 
New suspect in Skara Brae enquiry

Police searching for vandals who scrawled graffiti at the site of the ancient Skara Brae settlement are now looking for a 35-year-old man.
The man, who might speak with a Liverpudlian accent, is said to be 5ft 6 in, of medium build with fair hair.

He may be using the name Brian Finlay and make conversation about the Celts, police on Orkney added.

Staff found the graffiti daubed on the 5,000-year-old site - including the words "Scouse Celts" - on Tuesday.

Monument managers said vandals had entered one of the houses at the site and drawn a smiley face, their name and the date with black marker pen, defacing both the dresser and one of the bed posts.

Ruled out

It was initially thought that the vandalism may have been carried out by tourists travelling round the island in a silver people carrier.

However, police ruled the group out of their inquiries after questioning the vehicle's occupants earlier.

The man they are now looking for is believed to be sleeping rough on Orkney and has a backpack with him.

Historic Scotland, which is responsible for the upkeep of the world heritage site, said that it was liaising with its conservation centre in Edinburgh to find the best way of removing the graffiti as soon as possible.

"Graffiti removal on buildings of historical or architectural importance needs to be handled sensitively," said a spokeswoman.

Our visitors have reacted with surprise and sympathy to the damage caused

Historic Scotland spokeswoman

"The careful process needs to ensure any long-term damage caused by the graffiti is kept to a minimum and the stone itself is not further damaged as part of the graffiti removal process.

"Our visitors have reacted with surprise and sympathy to the damage caused."

The cost - which is expected to be substantial - is not yet known.

Skara Brae was first discovered following a major storm in 1850, which battered the island to such an extent that an outline of a series of stone buildings was revealed.

A series of excavations was carried out over the next century, finally revealing eight stone dwellings which were originally believed to be an Iron Age settlement.

However, in the 1970s radiocarbon dating showed that the village was originally built between 3200 and 2200 BC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/nor ... 951100.stm
 
Brian Finlay is a Bawbag!!! :evil:

The only thing I ever left at Scara Brae was my camera. Luckily, someone had handed it into a house next to the site and I picked it up a week later. Happy Daze! :)
 
I think I met his brother Premature Jex. Stop or I'll . . .

From Grauniad

5.15pm

Robber jailed for sex toy 'armed' raid

Press Association
Monday August 20, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

CCTV image of Nicki Jex holding up a bookmakers shop using a concealed sex toy
 
A robber who held up a bookmakers with his girlfriend's vibrator was jailed today.

Nicki Jex concealed the Rampant Rabbit sex toy in a carrier bag and pretended it was a gun during the raid on the Ladbrokes shop in Leicester on December 27 last year.

A member of staff at the branch handed over more than £600 in cash when he pointed the bag at her, Leicester crown court was told.

Jex, 27, of Braunstone, pleaded guilty to the robbery, which was captured on a CCTV camera inside the shop.

Sentencing him to five years behind bars, the judge, Philip Head, said: "It's right to record that you did not have a firearm but you pretended you had and intended that those you confronted believed that you did, and it must have been truly terrifying for them at the time."

The surveillance camera recorded Jex striding into the shop brandishing the "firearm" minutes before staff were due to close for the day.

Tim Palmer, prosecuting, told the court: "The defendant pointed the item in the carrier bag at the cashier. She immediately assumed it to be a firearm. In fact, what was contained within the carrier bag was the defendant's girlfriend's vibrator."

The cashier retreated behind the counter and he turned the imitation weapon on the shop manager, demanding cash. She handed over £613 in till contents and other money, the court was told.

As Jex made his escape, the shop's only remaining customer, Wayne Vakani, followed him outside.

"The defendant pointed the vibrator in the bag at Mr Vakani and warned him to back off," said Mr Palmer. "Mr Vakani then kept a discreet distance but kept an eye on the defendant and watched where he went."

Jex visited a local pub "obviously flush with money" to buy friends a drink. Thanks to Mr Vakani, the defendant's hat worn in the robbery and containing his DNA was discovered nearby.

Jex also tried in vain to sell the distinctive camel-coloured coat he had been wearing during the raid.

When he was arrested he denied any involvement in the robbery, but he later owned up.

The court was told that Jex, a drug addict, had a string of previous convictions dating back to February 2002, including shoplifting, failing to surrender and possession of heroin.

In mitigation, Phil Gibbs, defending, said Jex, a qualified chef and engineer, had fought a battle against drug addiction and had a "fragile" state of mind.

The judge awarded £500 to Mr Vakani for his "very considerable courage".

Story Ends




"The defendant pointed the vibrator in the bag at Mr Vakani and warned him to back off," said Mr Palmer.

Oh dear, oh dear! Does Mr Palmer have five lovely daughters? And are we sure he said "back off" ? I must go and lie down. :)
 
Two female sunbathers prosecuted for flashing their breasts at CCTV camera

When Abbi-Louise Maple and Rachel Marchant saw a CCTV camera trained on them as they sat on a beach, they had a mischievous idea.

The 21-year-olds lifted their tops and flashed their bare chests at the camera before collapsing in a fit of giggles.

The young women's friends thought their prank was hilarious.

The CCTV operator, however, didn't see the funny side and called the police.

Minutes later, the two blondes were arrested, questioned and then charged with committing an act outraging public decency - an offence which carries a maximum sentence of six months prison or a £5,000 fine.

The pair, who appeared before magistrates on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges, will now stand trial before a crown court jury at a cost to the taxpayer of £8,000 a day.

Miss Maple and Miss Marchant were enjoying a day on the beach with friends near their homes in Worthing, West Sussex, on July 16, when they noticed the surveillance camera.

Miss Maple said: "For a laugh we both quickly lifted our tops up to flash the camera.



"There was nobody else around that we could see, the beach was empty, so we didn't think it would be a problem as we had done it before.

"We hope they see sense and drop it. We're just two young girls who were having a bit of fun."

Miss Marchant added: "We did not intend to upset anyone and I don't think it's that offensive because people sunbathe topless all the time.

"Everyone thinks it's ridiculous that we've been taken to court. Most people think what we did was funny.

"That's all it was - just a bit of a laugh.

"It's a waste of time and money. They should be concentrating on drug dealers and rapists, not two girls having a bit of harmless fun."

After entering not guilty pleas at Worthing Magistrates' Court, they both elected to stand trial at Chichester Crown Court and the case was adjourned.

Prosecutor Linda Arnell told the court that the beach was about 100 yards from a family play area and that youths aged around 15 were walking nearby when the women were caught on camera.

Peter Bottomley, Tory MP for West Worthing, has led calls for the case to be dropped.

He said: "This is ridiculous.

"It is a total waste of public money and waste of time for the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts. The sooner they drop the case, the better."

The women's solicitor Chris Chatterton said he was confident the case would be dropped by a crown court judge.

There are no laws specifically prohibiting nudity in public.

Public nudity can be prosecuted under the common law offence of outraging public decency if it causes harassment, alarm or distress.

There is also an offence of indecent exposure that falls under the Sexual Offences Act.

Naturists and topless sunbathers are not usually prosecuted.

Malcolm Boura, research officer for British Naturism: "There's no way this should be classed as outraging public decency.

"I think they are absolutely right to demand a trial.

"It's ludicrous it ever got this far. It's another example of the law making as ass of itself."

The case follows that of a 12-year-old boy who was this week hauled before a court charged with assault after throwing a sausage at his neighbour.

A judge threw out the charge and criticised the police and lawyers for pursuing the case.

In March last year, a 15-year-old boy from Burnley was landed with a criminal record simply for throwing a snowball at a car.

The teenager was prosecuted under a little-used 160-year-old law and fined £100.

And in January 2005, Sarah McCaffrey, 23, was fined £60 by South Tyneside court for eating an apple while driving.
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Spanish library in turmoil over stolen maps
By Graham Keeley in Barcelona
Published: 31 August 2007

A real life literary thriller is unravelling in Spain with priceless documents disappearing, police mounting an international hunt for the thief and the country's cultural chief and literary guardian embroiled in a juicy political controversy.

Copies of two Ptolemaic world maps, which were more than 500 years old and inspired by the astronomer and geographer Claudius Ptolemy, were stolen from Spain's National Library, from a section which is accessible to official researchers.

The chief suspect is thought to be a researcher who had been given accreditation by the Spanish embassy in Buenos Aires, suggesting they are of Argentinian origin. But the thief is thought to have fled abroad before the loss of the maps was discovered. Four other precious written documents, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, were also damaged.

Ptolemy was a Greek or Egyptian astronomer and geographer who lived between AD85 and AD165, but his works were vastly influential until the 16th century. Copies of his original maps of the world made Columbus decide to head west in search of India – only to discover the Americas in 1492.

The stolen maps, dating from 1482, form part of Ptolemy's foremost geographical work, Cosmography, and the maps could have been stolen to order for the illegal market in stolen valuable documents.

The normally genteel and prestigious world of the National Library has been rocked further by the resignation of its director, Rosa Regas. The 73-year-old writer claimed her position had become untenable after she lost the confidence of her boss, the Culture minister, Cesar Antonio Molina.

Ms Regas told Catalunya Radio station she had been forced by Mr Molina to "give a press conference" about the theft of the maps, "against the orders of the Civil Guard, who had asked us not to give any more information to the media". Mr Molina had said that Ms Regas' three-year tenure at the head of the nation's library "had amounted to nothing" – a comment which appears to have been straw that broke the camel's back.

The embarrassment of the thefts in a library with a supposedly hi-tech security system led deputies in the Spanish Congress to ask questions about the whole affair. Mr Molina told politicans that a modernisation plan was under way which would be "very relevant" – taken as a reference to raising security.

The right-wing daily El Mundo commented yesterday: "The minister says one thing and the ex-director the other. The only thing that remains clear to the astonished citizen watching this spectacle is one is lying."

Ms Regas is no stranger to controversy. The former guardian of the country's reading heritage provoked an incredulous reaction from Spain's chattering classes when she admitted this month she did not read newspapers.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2914407.ece
 
This really isn't a strange crime, either in probable motivation or in frequency. Old and rare maps, like other art, are a hot commodity in the black market, with a specialty collector's market to drive up the price. They are comparatively portable - especially ones that are parts of books, which are either already folded or of a size to fit nicely inside equipment the library can't forbid you to bring in, like notebooks and folders. A well-prepared thief can dump the goods almost immediately by sealing it in an envelope and mailing it to himself, passing it to another person in the library who never went near the rare documents room, etc. It's next-door to impossible to get the police interested in pursuing such a theft, because it's a nonviolent crime and extremely difficult to solve. And the only security measures that can effectively prevent such thefts are so inconvenient that, even if instituted, they will not be reliably undertaken on a day-to-day basis.

This is probably making headlines primarily because of its timing related to internal political hassles in the institution. This event is not why Ms. Regas is resigning - this is the straw that broke her camel.

And why should she be expected to read newspapers? News that affects her specialty is likely to be brought to her attention in other ways.
 
Strange but probably NFG this one. Normal For Gorton!

BBC Story

Girl gang forces victims to strip

Two teenage girls were forced to walk naked through the streets after a gang of older girls stole their clothes.

The 14-year-olds were attacked by the gang on Field Street in Gorton, Manchester, on Thursday night.

The thieves took a mobile phone from one of them before slapping their victims, pulling their hair, stealing their clothes and running off.

The girls had to walk naked to a shop to get help. The attackers are said to be white and aged about 15 or 16.

Gold jewellery

The first offender is said be of medium build with blonde hair, which was tied up in a bun.

She was wearing a white jumper, jeans, gold earrings, a gold chain and bracelet.

The second offender is described as having long brown hair, a pink or red top which came down below her waist, a black leather jacket and jeans.

She had pierced ears and was also of medium build.

The third offender is described as having light brown hair tied up in a bun and was wearing a light striped hooded jumper.

Anyone with information should contact police.

End of Story.


Those descriptions sound very specific but it's hard to think of any young female in the Gorton area who doesn't match one. :(
 
This could equally well go in dumb criminals. I'm sorry, but it made me laugh...I will go to hell.

SA men steal hearse for pub crawl
Two South African men have been arrested in Soweto for allegedly going on a drinking spree in a stolen hearse with a body in the back, police say.
The men were caught after the hearse ran out of petrol and they asked three women they had met at a drinking den to help push the hearse, local media say.

The men told the women they were on their way to bury the body of a relative but the women told the police.

The hearse's driver told The Sowetan newspaper he was shocked at the theft.

Siphiwo Mkhize said he had parked the hearse outside his house while he went inside to get money to buy fuel.

"It is a shocking thing to realise there are people who could steal a hearse with a dead person inside," he said.

"Going shebeen-hopping with a corpse takes the cake. What kind of people are these?"

John Dlomo from the Community Policing Forum in the township of Soweto said the men appeared to be drunk when they were arrested.

A police spokeswoman told the BBC News website that the two men remained in police custody.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 975785.stm

Published: 2007/09/03 11:38:11 GMT

© BBC MMVII
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The headline says it all:

Man 'steals iguanas in fake leg'

A Californian man has been charged with using his false leg to smuggle three endangered iguanas from a nature reserve in Fiji to the United States.

Prosecutors say Jereme James stole the banded iguanas while on a visit to the South Pacific island in 2002.

He is alleged to have constructed a special compartment inside his prosthetic limb to move the reptiles.

Officials began investigating Mr James after receiving a tip off that he was in possession of several of the beasts.

The Fiji Island Banded Iguana (Brachylophus fasciatus), noted for its bright green skin, is threatened with extinction and protected under an international treaty regulating trade in endangered species.

Mr James could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

'Admission'

Having been informed that Mr James had several specimens at his home, the United States Fish & Wildlife Service launched an undercover investigation into his activities.

On one occasion, Mr James reportedly told an undercover agent that he sold three banded iguanas for the sum of $32,000 (£16,000) four years ago.

When Mr James's house was searched in July agents are said to have found a further four banded iguanas.

Officials say they think Mr James was breeding the animals for sale.

"That's what we believe has been going on," Assistant US Attorney Joseph O Johns told the Associated Press news agency. "Mother Nature has taken her course."

The iguanas would now be placed in a breeding programme in the US, Mr Johns added.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7007942.stm
 
Plaques stolen from crematorium

About 70 plaques have been stolen from graves at a crematorium in Northants.
Thieves broke into the Counties Crematorium at Milton Malsor sometime between 1700 BST on Thursday and 0800 BST on Friday.

The plaques were taken from adult graves and a memorial wall. Crematorium staff are contacting relatives of the people whose plaques have been taken.

Northamptonshire Police say the thieves cut through fencing to gain access to the area.

A spokeswoman said they must have spent a considerable amount of time in chiselling the plaques from their mountings.

She said: "This is a despicable thing to do and shows no respect for either the people who have died or the people grieving for them.

"We would urge anyone who knows, or thinks they may know, the people who have done this to contact us."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nort ... 019519.stm

Weird! These things surely have little financial value, and would only be of personal interest to relatives of the deceased. Is some kind of vendetta involved? Are the plaques to be some sort of grim stage dressing for a satanic cult ritual? :?
 
German Thief Nailed Selling Stolen Screws

German thief nailed selling stolen screws

Fri Sep 28, 2007 5:38pm BST

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German factory worker stole over a million screws from his employer and skewed the market with his cheap stolen goods, police said on Friday.

"In the end, it became obvious that screws were being sold for much less than they usually cost," said a spokesman for police in the southern city of Wuerzburg.

Over two years, the 33-year-old assembly plant worker smuggled between 2,000 and 7,000 screws out of work each night, and auctioned them on an Internet site, police said. The scheme cost his firm around 110,000 euros (77,000 pounds).

The man confessed after officers raided his home.

© Reuters 2006. All rights reserved.
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Case solved!

Library map thief gives himself up
Thomas Catan in Madrid

The mystery thief of some of the rarest maps in the world has been unmasked after a worldwide investigation by Spanish police that led them to Britain, Australia, America and Argentina.

Spanish detectives flew this weekend to Buenos Aires after a man there admitted to stealing up to 19 valuable maps from a collection held at the Spanish National Library, some more than 500 years old.

The discovery in August that the cream of the Spanish cartographic collection had been stolen sparked a political storm that cost Rosa Regàs, the Catalan writer who was head of the National Library, her job. It also led to accusations against the Government that it had been cavalier with the nation’s priceless historical artefacts.

Now the new head of the library says that the country is within days of regaining the stolen maps, which had been snapped up by collectors and shipped around the globe. “I am very happy,” said Milagros del Corral, who has been charged with reinforcing security at the library, in Madrid. “I think we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.”

César Gómez Rivero, a Uruguayan-born Spanish citizen who is said to have lived in Buenos Aires for several decades, sent his lawyer to negotiate an immunity deal with an Argentine judge last week in exchange for handing over eight of the maps. “He is full of remorse because he involved people he knew and abused their confidence,” Fernando Soto, his lawyer, said.

The judge refused the deal, placing the maps in his vault but releasing Mr Gómez on bail. Spanish authorities are seeking his extradition to stand trial in Madrid, where penalties for the theft of historical items are much stiffer.

Acting on requests from Spanish police, the FBI has retrieved another map from Richard Lan, a dealer in New York, who had sold it to a private client. Australian police have recovered another from Simon Dewez, a dealer in Sydney, who bought it in America. Both men insist that they bought the maps in good faith.

“I had absolutely no idea it was stolen,” Mr Dewez said. “I thought it was a fantastic buy, a rare opportunity.” The self-confessed thief was a map expert who was able to enter the Cervantes Hall, where they were kept, with the aid of a researcher’s pass. Mr Soto explained that, after several years working at the library, his client had “realised that he could evade security controls and take the originals. That’s what he did, and he managed to leave without being seen.”

Using a Stanley knife, Mr Gómez cut at least ten pages from centuries-old books, including two world maps from 1482 editions of Ptolemy’s Cosmo-graphia, valued at £50,000 each.

World view

£7m raised by Library of Congress to buy the 1507 Waldseemuller map, the first to use the term America

700 years approximate age of Mappa Mundi, one of most important medieval maps, held in Hereford Cathedral

£1.5m value of maps stolen from Harvard and elsewhere by the map dealer E. Forbes Smiley III before his arrest in 2005

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/w ... 708751.ece
 
The cemetery plaques mentioned above may have been made of a recycleable metal. It's the new version of stealing the lead off the church roof, as world scrap metal prices are rising due to the expansion of Chinese industry.
 
there's some pretty dumb things to die for... but a sausage!

Man cleared of sausage row death

A man accused of killing another man after a chip shop row over a sausage has been formally cleared.

Gary Jenner, 26, died in the incident outside the takeaway shop on Stanley Road in Bootle, Merseyside, in January.

Luke McCormick, 53, was tried for manslaughter at Liverpool Crown Court but after five days the judge directed the jury to a not guilty verdict.

The recorder of Liverpool, Judge Henry Globe QC, said there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

Mr McCormick, of Pennington Avenue, Bootle, had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

During the trial the court heard that the victim, Mr Jenner, had been drunk and abusive while in Tsang's takeaway in the early hours of 14 January.

An argument broke out between Mr Jenner and Mr McCormick and continued after the defendant offered to buy him a sausage.

Mr Jenner threw a punch at Mr McCormick's girlfriend and a fight broke out, the court heard.

Mr McCormick brought Mr Jenner to the ground and was said to have held him there until the police arrived.

'Irreversible injuries'

He was reported to have told police at the scene that he had restrained Mr Jenner with an arm around his neck and had pushed his head down when he lifted it up.

A pathologist later found that he had suffered irreversible injuries by the time the police arrived.

When later told that Mr Jenner had died, Mr McCormick cried and said: "All this over a sausage. I was trying to restrain him."

The judge told the jury that no accounts of the independent witnesses were the same and so there was not enough evidence for a conviction.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/mers ... 061885.stm
 
Sisters 'spent bank error cash'

Two sisters appeared in court and accused each other of spending nearly £135,000 put into one of their bank accounts by mistake.
Sarah-Jane Lee, 20, and Amanda Moorcroft, 26, from Blackburn, Lancs, both admit theft after spending the cash paid wrongly paid to Ms Lee.

But Preston Crown Court heard that Ms Lee alleges her sister pressurised her into handing out the cash to family.

Judge Stuart Baker said the role of each sister must be clarified.

Ms Lee went to an Abbey cash machine in November last year and found £135,000 in her account paid in error from the Deutsche Bank of Frankfurt.

Banker's drafts

Ms Lee phoned her sister to seek her advice and later, together with their children, they went into Blackburn town centre and withdrew £300 from Ms Lee's account to buy trainers, Mark Lamberty, prosecuting, said.

The spending continued over the next 15 days until the mistake was realised by the bank.

The court heard the bulk of the cash went to Mrs Moorcroft's husband, David, 42, his brother Winston, 39, and family friend Mark Utley, 27.

Wrongful credit

Ms Lee wrote out banker's drafts worth £40,000 each to the brothers and a cheque for £17,000 to Mr Utley.

All three men, from Blackburn, pleaded guilty to handling stolen cash.

Ms Lee pleaded guilty to 11 counts of theft, totalling £100,300 and retaining wrongful credit.

Ms Moorcroft pleaded guilty to seven counts of theft.

Judge Stuart Baker adjourned the hearing until 28 February next year when a trial of issue will take place, followed by sentencing the next day.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lanc ... 143446.stm
 
Air warning after blimp set free

A football club had to call air traffic control after a promotional inflatable blimp was cut free.
Burnley Football Club flew the airship, bearing the club logo, above the Turf Moor ground ahead of their Queens Park Rangers clash on Tuesday.

But within 90 minutes, someone scaled a wall and cut through the reinforced steel tether to free the blimp.

Police were called and a reward has been offered for its return, but there have been no confirmed sightings.

A club spokesman said: "We called air traffic control because quite often these blimps get spotted by pilots first, but there has been no news so we are really still waiting.

"It was flying on a 200ft-long (61m) cord attached to a container in the corner of the car park, the first 20ft (6m) or so of which are covered in a steel sheath.

"It was well-protected, but somebody has climbed on to the container, hooked it, pulled it down a bit and cut through the cord.

"They were certainly persistent, and ran away before anyone saw them."

The spokesman added that someone had called to say the blimp had been seen over Manchester's Trafford Centre, but there had also been a reported sighting of it flying in the other direction over Cliviger, Lancashire.

The club has offered VIP tickets to a match as reward for its return.

A Lancashire Police spokeswoman said: "Burnley Football Club contacted air traffic control for safety reasons because you never know how high these things will go.

"We have had no information as yet. Who knows where it might end up - perhaps it will be found abroad."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lanc ... 143056.stm

Perhaps I should post this on the UFO forum as well.... 8)
 
A tantalising brief story from The Mirror:

Thieves steal beach
22/12/2007

Crooks have stolen deck chairs, beach huts and all 6,000 cubic metres of sand from a man-made beach in land-locked Hungary.

:shock:
 
And a seasonal tale of ill-will...

Van load of turkeys goes missing

Police are investigating the theft of van load of 150 frozen turkeys from a farm in Cornwall.
The owners of Gobblers Farm in Trebant, St Breward said the turkeys had been loaded into a van on Friday and were due to be delivered to a shop.

They were reported missing the next day when the turkeys did not arrive.

The farm estimated the value of the turkeys to be about £1,200. The owners said any customers who pre-ordered turkeys would be compensated.

The van was described as a white transit-style vehicle.

The driver was aged about 30 and was about 5ft 10ins tall, with black curly hair and wearing a hooded jacket and jeans.

A police spokeswoman said the van driver was not known to the farm.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7159503.stm
 
Ronson8 said:
Bet they'll do some bird if the police catch up with em! :)
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..and if they were on drugs at the time, that would mean cold turkey!
 
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