Yes, I recall the FT article about the woman caught by her husband while in the act with their horse. He strangled her I think. If I must, I will sort out the issue (no pun intended). The point being, is this not more dangerous/impossible than the dolphin?
Anome
Bibliomancer
- Joined
- May 23, 2002
- Messages
- 5,528
- Location
- Left, and to the Back
I'm not up on comparative physiology, so I can't really say. I do know of a Japanese story in which a man, jealous of his wife's infidelity with a horse, cut the string tied around the horse's fellah which was supposed to stop him getting carried away, as it were. The result being a rather unpleasantly dead wife.
Does anyone have a copy of the Ig-Nobel prize winning poster "Penises of the Animal Kingdom" or the pop-up book that was made of it?
Does anyone have a copy of the Ig-Nobel prize winning poster "Penises of the Animal Kingdom" or the pop-up book that was made of it?
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
Man marries bitch to beat curse
An Indian man has married a female dog, believing the union will help him atone for stoning two other dogs to death.
P Selvakumar, 33, said he had been cursed since the killings, suffering paralysis and a loss of hearing.
The wedding took place at a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu state. The "bride" wore an orange sari with a flower garland and was fed a bun to celebrate.
Superstitious people in rural India sometimes organise weddings to animals in the hope of warding off curses.
'Tried every cure'
Crowds cheered the newly-weds at the end of the ceremony in Sivaganga district, about 50km (30 miles) east of the city of Madurai.
The "bride", who is called Selvi, was led to the temple in Manamudurai wearing a sari before vows were exchanged in a traditional Hindu ceremony.
A relative of the groom who attended the wedding said he hoped Mr Selvakumar would now be cured.
"Fifteen years back Selvakumar was physically fit. But, once he attacked a pair of dogs and thereafter Kumar could not move his limbs freely," the relative, Ramu, told the BBC.
"He tried every cure for his ailment but could not be rid of his disability.
"On the advice of an astrologer and others, he decided to marry a bitch to get cured. Then we arranged Selvakumar's marriage with a bitch."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7093422.stm
An Indian man has married a female dog, believing the union will help him atone for stoning two other dogs to death.
P Selvakumar, 33, said he had been cursed since the killings, suffering paralysis and a loss of hearing.
The wedding took place at a Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu state. The "bride" wore an orange sari with a flower garland and was fed a bun to celebrate.
Superstitious people in rural India sometimes organise weddings to animals in the hope of warding off curses.
'Tried every cure'
Crowds cheered the newly-weds at the end of the ceremony in Sivaganga district, about 50km (30 miles) east of the city of Madurai.
The "bride", who is called Selvi, was led to the temple in Manamudurai wearing a sari before vows were exchanged in a traditional Hindu ceremony.
A relative of the groom who attended the wedding said he hoped Mr Selvakumar would now be cured.
"Fifteen years back Selvakumar was physically fit. But, once he attacked a pair of dogs and thereafter Kumar could not move his limbs freely," the relative, Ramu, told the BBC.
"He tried every cure for his ailment but could not be rid of his disability.
"On the advice of an astrologer and others, he decided to marry a bitch to get cured. Then we arranged Selvakumar's marriage with a bitch."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7093422.stm
JamesWhitehead
Piffle Prospector
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2001
- Messages
- 14,201
Even the greyest of days can be cheered up by a good bestiality story, I always find. They put me in an irrationally jolly mood, though the underlying facts are disgusting and sometimes terrible.
I can't explain this bestiality-effect but the number of hits on that website suggests that if it is psychological flaw, it is one shared by many others. No, I don't want to be cured. Keep those Dog-was-secret-lover tales coming!
I can't explain this bestiality-effect but the number of hits on that website suggests that if it is psychological flaw, it is one shared by many others. No, I don't want to be cured. Keep those Dog-was-secret-lover tales coming!
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2006
- Messages
- 1,134
JamesWhitehead said:Keep those Dog-was-secret-lover tales coming!
I'm expecting to see this trailered at the end of a Jeremy Kyle program fairly soon.
Does your wife think more of the dog than you? No, we mean REALLY think more of the dog than you? When your husband said he likes it 'doggy-style', just how much did he mean it?
Phone our team on: 0800 RAKING IT IN AND LAUGHING AT YOUR MISFORTUNE
OneWingedBird
Beloved of Ra
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2003
- Messages
- 15,431
I agree with you entirely, but i doubt many others will...
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2006
- Messages
- 1,134
Depending on what frame of mind I'm in, I'd kind of agree that sex is pretty disgusting and terrible.
I don't like the control sex has over some people's lives and the way people often think it's the 'be all and end all'. I don't like the way it's often used as a currency or given away too freely. I don't like the way it becomes a substitute for other things and feelings because people are emotionally inarticulate. When sex seems wrong its a horrible thing indeed.
On the other hand, when it's right it really is a wonderful thing indeed.
I don't like the control sex has over some people's lives and the way people often think it's the 'be all and end all'. I don't like the way it's often used as a currency or given away too freely. I don't like the way it becomes a substitute for other things and feelings because people are emotionally inarticulate. When sex seems wrong its a horrible thing indeed.
On the other hand, when it's right it really is a wonderful thing indeed.
escargot
Disciple of Marduk
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2001
- Messages
- 43,403
- Location
- HM The Tower of London
Yup. I saw this on the Grauniad site this morning:
'I am a 43-year-old single man, and have sexual relationships with women. I don't feel satisfied with my level of orgasm, though. It is somewhat mechanical and centred on my genital area only and I never seem to be able to lose myself in the moment'.
Shagging around tends to have that effect.
'I am a 43-year-old single man, and have sexual relationships with women. I don't feel satisfied with my level of orgasm, though. It is somewhat mechanical and centred on my genital area only and I never seem to be able to lose myself in the moment'.
Shagging around tends to have that effect.
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
ROBBERY GANG GAVE AWAY MONEY
PETER HARRISON
11:00 - 27 March 2008
It was one of the most obscure campaigns in history which saw a bizarre and enigmatic masked gang confound the nation when it set about saving some of England's treasures.
Wearing masks and using absurd pseudonyms, the arty young women of Ferguson's Gang would burst into the offices of the National Trust and leave thousands of pounds.
They anonymously forced it to accept £4,500 through the Great Depression and yet only one of the women was ever unmasked.
Twelve years ago, Margaret Steuart Pollard, who went on to become an adopted Cornish bard, was revealed to be Bill Stickers after she died at the age of 93.
Ferguson's Gang's ongoing campaign helped the trust to buy sizeable chunks of the Devon and Cornwall coast.
The gang used the reverse theory of a robbery, bursting into offices and forcing trust staff to accept huge bundles of valuable coins, and then running off, leaving no clue to their identity.
Now an exhibition of their efforts has been set up in one of the places their money helped. In the new Wiltshire History Centre in Chippenham, rare material relating to the gang's activities from the late 1920s up until the outbreak of war is going on show to the public for the first time after being transferred from the National Trust's archives.
A Ferguson Gang minute book, along with hand-illustrated letters, are probably the only clue to what the gang were about, who they might have been and why they did what they did.
Inspired by a Clough Williams-Ellis book decrying the modernist insensitive buildings of the time, it is thought the gang were made up of young artistic women.
They gave themselves codenames like Bill Stickers, Kate O'Brien the Nark, Silent O'Moyle, See Mee Run, Gerry Moham, Black Maria and the plainly strange Lord Beershop of the Gladstone Islands & Mercator's Projection.
It is still largely unknown quite why they took the approach they did rather than simply donating money.
In a recent edition of the National Trust magazine, it said of the gang: "Nobody knew who Ferguson's Gang were. But with each cloaked appearance, their notoriety and penchant for mischievous stunts grew.
"The Press loved them. They once delivered money sewn up in the carcass of a goose. Another time, £50 notes came attached to miniature bottles of liqueurs."
In one famous example, a fully masked Red Biddy handed over £100 worth of Victorian coins in 1933, while two years later, one of the gang was interviewed by the BBC at Broadcasting House in London, wearing a mask, even though it was on radio.
tinyurl.com/3xzftu
Link is dead. No archived version found.
See Also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson's_Gang
PETER HARRISON
11:00 - 27 March 2008
It was one of the most obscure campaigns in history which saw a bizarre and enigmatic masked gang confound the nation when it set about saving some of England's treasures.
Wearing masks and using absurd pseudonyms, the arty young women of Ferguson's Gang would burst into the offices of the National Trust and leave thousands of pounds.
They anonymously forced it to accept £4,500 through the Great Depression and yet only one of the women was ever unmasked.
Twelve years ago, Margaret Steuart Pollard, who went on to become an adopted Cornish bard, was revealed to be Bill Stickers after she died at the age of 93.
Ferguson's Gang's ongoing campaign helped the trust to buy sizeable chunks of the Devon and Cornwall coast.
The gang used the reverse theory of a robbery, bursting into offices and forcing trust staff to accept huge bundles of valuable coins, and then running off, leaving no clue to their identity.
Now an exhibition of their efforts has been set up in one of the places their money helped. In the new Wiltshire History Centre in Chippenham, rare material relating to the gang's activities from the late 1920s up until the outbreak of war is going on show to the public for the first time after being transferred from the National Trust's archives.
A Ferguson Gang minute book, along with hand-illustrated letters, are probably the only clue to what the gang were about, who they might have been and why they did what they did.
Inspired by a Clough Williams-Ellis book decrying the modernist insensitive buildings of the time, it is thought the gang were made up of young artistic women.
They gave themselves codenames like Bill Stickers, Kate O'Brien the Nark, Silent O'Moyle, See Mee Run, Gerry Moham, Black Maria and the plainly strange Lord Beershop of the Gladstone Islands & Mercator's Projection.
It is still largely unknown quite why they took the approach they did rather than simply donating money.
In a recent edition of the National Trust magazine, it said of the gang: "Nobody knew who Ferguson's Gang were. But with each cloaked appearance, their notoriety and penchant for mischievous stunts grew.
"The Press loved them. They once delivered money sewn up in the carcass of a goose. Another time, £50 notes came attached to miniature bottles of liqueurs."
In one famous example, a fully masked Red Biddy handed over £100 worth of Victorian coins in 1933, while two years later, one of the gang was interviewed by the BBC at Broadcasting House in London, wearing a mask, even though it was on radio.
Link is dead. No archived version found.
See Also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson's_Gang
Last edited by a moderator:
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
Wedding licence for ancient caves
A Devon tourist attraction has been granted a marriage licence to hold weddings in its caves, which date back more than 500,000 years.
Kents Cavern in Torquay, Devon, is now allowed to carry out subterranean ceremonies.
The caves are one of Britain's oldest scheduled ancient monuments, with English Heritage designation dating back to 1957.
A piece of jawbone from Neanderthal man has been found in one of the caves.
The first humans are believed to have lived in the area alongside sabre-toothed cats, bears, hyenas and woolly mammoth.
The hillside, woodlands and the internal landscape of the caves are designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest under the statutory regulations of English Nature.
Christine Howle, deputy superintendent registrar at Torbay Council, said the caves were a "unique and stunning venue".
Couples will be able to choose one of four caves to make their vows, with the largest chamber able to accommodate 80 guests.
Local couple Gilly Woodland and Alan Duckworth have already booked the venue for their wedding on 4 October.
"Essentially it was because we wanted to do something that was a little different," the bride-to-be told BBC News
"The choice in Torbay wasn't too great, so originally we'd planned to get married at the registry office in Oldway Mansion, then have the reception at Kents Caverns."
Climate control
The couple have chosen to exchange vows in the great chamber, which can hold up to 80 guests.
Ms Woodland said the invitations could turn out to be more like information booklets.
"The caves are kept at a constant temperature, but it's a constant of 14C, so we'll need to tell people about that.
"There will also be a warning on the invitations six-inch stilettos are banned - we don't want any broken ankles."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7346069.stm
A Devon tourist attraction has been granted a marriage licence to hold weddings in its caves, which date back more than 500,000 years.
Kents Cavern in Torquay, Devon, is now allowed to carry out subterranean ceremonies.
The caves are one of Britain's oldest scheduled ancient monuments, with English Heritage designation dating back to 1957.
A piece of jawbone from Neanderthal man has been found in one of the caves.
The first humans are believed to have lived in the area alongside sabre-toothed cats, bears, hyenas and woolly mammoth.
The hillside, woodlands and the internal landscape of the caves are designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest under the statutory regulations of English Nature.
Christine Howle, deputy superintendent registrar at Torbay Council, said the caves were a "unique and stunning venue".
Couples will be able to choose one of four caves to make their vows, with the largest chamber able to accommodate 80 guests.
Local couple Gilly Woodland and Alan Duckworth have already booked the venue for their wedding on 4 October.
"Essentially it was because we wanted to do something that was a little different," the bride-to-be told BBC News
"The choice in Torbay wasn't too great, so originally we'd planned to get married at the registry office in Oldway Mansion, then have the reception at Kents Caverns."
Climate control
The couple have chosen to exchange vows in the great chamber, which can hold up to 80 guests.
Ms Woodland said the invitations could turn out to be more like information booklets.
"The caves are kept at a constant temperature, but it's a constant of 14C, so we'll need to tell people about that.
"There will also be a warning on the invitations six-inch stilettos are banned - we don't want any broken ankles."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7346069.stm
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
Today on the bus, we passed a cyclist holding a saucepan in his right hand.
The saucepan was the right way up, as it contained food. (I'm not sure exactly what, but it was mostly yellow, so perhaps it was split peas or sweetcorn.)
The saucepan was the right way up, as it contained food. (I'm not sure exactly what, but it was mostly yellow, so perhaps it was split peas or sweetcorn.)
OneWingedBird
Beloved of Ra
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2003
- Messages
- 15,431
that goth with his pet girlfriend are still wandering around leeds... i was waiting for a bus a couple of weeks ago when they went past on the headrow...
uair01
Antediluvian
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2005
- Messages
- 5,460
- Location
- The Netherlands
licata1708 said:
In Basel (.ch) I saw a woman walking her two pet pigs on a leash along the bank of the Rhine. She looked well-off, though a bit eccentric. I still have visions of the two pigs in a posh appartment with crystal chandeliers etc.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2005
- Messages
- 530
uair01 said:
Were they pot bellied pigs? Wonder if she was hunting for truffles.
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
Couple vow to eat at McDonald's
An engaged couple are planning a rather unusual wedding feast after they exchange their vows in Cornwall.
Alice Clark, 26, and 25-year-old fiance Terry Speller from St Austell will "fast food" it to McDonalds in Penryn, before returning to their reception.
When Ms Clark told her fiance she "wasn't keen" on a buffet after their June nuptials, he suggested going to McDonalds instead.
"There's a few reasons, but basically I'm a fussy cow," she told BBC News.
'Great idea'
So the couple will be chauffeur-driven straight from their wedding at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth to the burger bar before joining their guests at the formal reception .
"Terry was joking, but I said let's do it," she said.
"It'll be a busy day and at least this will give us a chance to have ten minute to ourselves.
"Mind you, my brother and his fiancee have decided it's a great idea, so they're coming with us."
A McDonald's spokeperson said the restuarant was "proud" to be the happy couple's destination of choice.
"We all know that weddings can be stressful and we're glad that the simple good value and great taste of our food is going to take some of the hassle out of their special day," he said.
He added the largest wedding order McDonalds has had was for 350 Fillet-o-Fish meals at its restaurant in Rushall, Walsall last October.
"Some brides worry about how they look and what they eat, but I've told Terry he's marrying me and not an image," said Ms Clark.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7418643.stm
Words fail me...!
An engaged couple are planning a rather unusual wedding feast after they exchange their vows in Cornwall.
Alice Clark, 26, and 25-year-old fiance Terry Speller from St Austell will "fast food" it to McDonalds in Penryn, before returning to their reception.
When Ms Clark told her fiance she "wasn't keen" on a buffet after their June nuptials, he suggested going to McDonalds instead.
"There's a few reasons, but basically I'm a fussy cow," she told BBC News.
'Great idea'
So the couple will be chauffeur-driven straight from their wedding at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth to the burger bar before joining their guests at the formal reception .
"Terry was joking, but I said let's do it," she said.
"It'll be a busy day and at least this will give us a chance to have ten minute to ourselves.
"Mind you, my brother and his fiancee have decided it's a great idea, so they're coming with us."
A McDonald's spokeperson said the restuarant was "proud" to be the happy couple's destination of choice.
"We all know that weddings can be stressful and we're glad that the simple good value and great taste of our food is going to take some of the hassle out of their special day," he said.
He added the largest wedding order McDonalds has had was for 350 Fillet-o-Fish meals at its restaurant in Rushall, Walsall last October.
"Some brides worry about how they look and what they eat, but I've told Terry he's marrying me and not an image," said Ms Clark.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7418643.stm
Words fail me...!
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2001
- Messages
- 51,690
- Location
- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
rynner said:
Reckon she can't be that fussy...
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,263
- Location
- Eblana
He'll probably seek a divorce on the grounds that shes a bitch.
ramonmercado
CyberPunk
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
- Messages
- 58,263
- Location
- Eblana
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
A day to remember: Couple’s wedding clashes with race protest (so police officers are in all their photos)
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:07 AM on 7th March 2011
Every bride worries her memories of her big day might be ruined by a bad photographer but the quality of Stacey Roberts’ wedding snaps isn’t the problem – it’s what's in the background.
Mrs Roberts had planned her nuptials with partner Mark six months ago only for their vows to be spoiled as English Defence League supporters clashed with anti-fascist demonstrators.
Police made 34 arrests on the day and lines of riot officers appear behind the newlyweds in their wedding photographs.
‘It was like a battle zone,’ Mrs Roberts said of their weekend wedding in Rochdale.
‘When we were exchanging our vows I wanted to hear wedding bells, not demonstrators booing, police dogs barking and a helicopter hovering overhead. We had to ask the registrar to speak up because people couldn’t hear over the din. :shock:
‘When I came out afterwards all I could hear was sarcastic wolf whistling,’ she told the Daily Mirror.
The couple have been offered £1,000 compensation by the council after 550 protesters from the far-Right EDL battled 100 demonstrators from United Against Fascism.
The two sides were kept around 100ft apart and separated by metal fencing. On several occasions demonstrators surged towards the police lines but never managed to break through.
etc...
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1FusSn3G0
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:07 AM on 7th March 2011
Every bride worries her memories of her big day might be ruined by a bad photographer but the quality of Stacey Roberts’ wedding snaps isn’t the problem – it’s what's in the background.
Mrs Roberts had planned her nuptials with partner Mark six months ago only for their vows to be spoiled as English Defence League supporters clashed with anti-fascist demonstrators.
Police made 34 arrests on the day and lines of riot officers appear behind the newlyweds in their wedding photographs.
‘It was like a battle zone,’ Mrs Roberts said of their weekend wedding in Rochdale.
‘When we were exchanging our vows I wanted to hear wedding bells, not demonstrators booing, police dogs barking and a helicopter hovering overhead. We had to ask the registrar to speak up because people couldn’t hear over the din. :shock:
‘When I came out afterwards all I could hear was sarcastic wolf whistling,’ she told the Daily Mirror.
The couple have been offered £1,000 compensation by the council after 550 protesters from the far-Right EDL battled 100 demonstrators from United Against Fascism.
The two sides were kept around 100ft apart and separated by metal fencing. On several occasions demonstrators surged towards the police lines but never managed to break through.
etc...
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1FusSn3G0
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
The wedding was OK - but the photographer wasn't:
Wedding cameraman missed vital parts of ceremony
The bridge and groom had doubts about about their choice of wedding cameraman when he turned up looking scruffy and disshevelled.
By Richard Alleyne 2:13PM GMT 20 Mar 2011
But even his shambolic appearance did not prepare the couple for quite how bad his video of their big day would turn out.
Treasured moments like the signing of the register, the cutting of the cake and the newlyweds' first steps out the church were all missing.
What film was taken was "wonky" and featured a lot of grass - because the camera had been left on the lawn for an important shot.
The footage of the wedding mostly featured guests feet and backs, and many were taken too far away to make out faces.
He even managed to include people who were not at the wedding.
The unprofessional nature of Clayton Bennett's recording work emerged after the couple won a court battle against him demanding their money back.
Martin Shubrook, 34, a publisher, and his wife Heidi, 29, a primary school teacher, said they were concerned about his messy and "unsuitable clothing" and the fact he seemed to disappear for much of the day.
But as he was the owner of Lasting Impressions video and photography services, based in Sunderland, they assumed he knew what he was doing.
That was until they saw the results.
Mr Shubrook, who runs the family's publishing business based in Essex, said: "Clayton Bennett was utterly unprofessional.
"He turned up in unsuitable clothing, and vanished for most of the day. As a result he missed the shot of us signing the register, the shot of us coming out of the church and the cutting of the cake, as well as some of the speeches.
"What we did get was poorly filmed. The angles were wonky and the framing bad, and he allowed subjects to move out of shot.
"For part of it, the camera was left lying on the floor so half of the shot was grass, and people's heads were cut off. :shock:
"He even managed to include people who were not part of the wedding."
Bennet, of Howden, County Durham, told the couple he could deliver a professional package to capture their special day forever, and was paid £350 to video their wedding in July 2009.
After seeing the final result, the couple started a year-long battle to bring the cameraman, later trading as We Photograph Your Wedding, to the Small Claims Court for breach of contract.
A judge sitting at Durham County Court found in the couple's favour and ordered Bennett to pay a total of £600, including a £150 refund to the couple, court costs and travel expenses.
Bennett, who has since declared himself bankrupt and says he has ceased trading and agreed to pay back the money in £20 instalments, however, the couple say they haven't received a penny.
Mr Shubrook, a father-of-two, said: "It is not right that this individual can take people's money and then not deliver.
"I don't think we are going to see a penny. But I want the wider public to be aware of what happened to us."
Bennett claims he has so far paid three instalments of £20 to the Shubrooks.
He said: "The Shubrooks expected the money they paid for the video to buy them an awful lot. I went out of my way for them.
"I had only been paid until 8.30pm but I stayed until 10pm for free. I have paid £20 a month as agreed and I have records to prove that.
"I am disputing the award made for costs as I am no longer working and I have laid out my bankruptcy order before the court."
Mrs Shubrook said she was heartbroken to discover that the film missed out almost all of her twin sister Louise Taylor's speech.
She said: "He faded into Louise's speech about five minutes from the end.
"It was heartbreaking, we've got no recollection of our day at all. We don't care about the money but we've lost something from the day.
"We've nothing to show our children in the future. I just don't want anyone else to go through what we did."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... emony.html
Wedding cameraman missed vital parts of ceremony
The bridge and groom had doubts about about their choice of wedding cameraman when he turned up looking scruffy and disshevelled.
By Richard Alleyne 2:13PM GMT 20 Mar 2011
But even his shambolic appearance did not prepare the couple for quite how bad his video of their big day would turn out.
Treasured moments like the signing of the register, the cutting of the cake and the newlyweds' first steps out the church were all missing.
What film was taken was "wonky" and featured a lot of grass - because the camera had been left on the lawn for an important shot.
The footage of the wedding mostly featured guests feet and backs, and many were taken too far away to make out faces.
He even managed to include people who were not at the wedding.
The unprofessional nature of Clayton Bennett's recording work emerged after the couple won a court battle against him demanding their money back.
Martin Shubrook, 34, a publisher, and his wife Heidi, 29, a primary school teacher, said they were concerned about his messy and "unsuitable clothing" and the fact he seemed to disappear for much of the day.
But as he was the owner of Lasting Impressions video and photography services, based in Sunderland, they assumed he knew what he was doing.
That was until they saw the results.
Mr Shubrook, who runs the family's publishing business based in Essex, said: "Clayton Bennett was utterly unprofessional.
"He turned up in unsuitable clothing, and vanished for most of the day. As a result he missed the shot of us signing the register, the shot of us coming out of the church and the cutting of the cake, as well as some of the speeches.
"What we did get was poorly filmed. The angles were wonky and the framing bad, and he allowed subjects to move out of shot.
"For part of it, the camera was left lying on the floor so half of the shot was grass, and people's heads were cut off. :shock:
"He even managed to include people who were not part of the wedding."
Bennet, of Howden, County Durham, told the couple he could deliver a professional package to capture their special day forever, and was paid £350 to video their wedding in July 2009.
After seeing the final result, the couple started a year-long battle to bring the cameraman, later trading as We Photograph Your Wedding, to the Small Claims Court for breach of contract.
A judge sitting at Durham County Court found in the couple's favour and ordered Bennett to pay a total of £600, including a £150 refund to the couple, court costs and travel expenses.
Bennett, who has since declared himself bankrupt and says he has ceased trading and agreed to pay back the money in £20 instalments, however, the couple say they haven't received a penny.
Mr Shubrook, a father-of-two, said: "It is not right that this individual can take people's money and then not deliver.
"I don't think we are going to see a penny. But I want the wider public to be aware of what happened to us."
Bennett claims he has so far paid three instalments of £20 to the Shubrooks.
He said: "The Shubrooks expected the money they paid for the video to buy them an awful lot. I went out of my way for them.
"I had only been paid until 8.30pm but I stayed until 10pm for free. I have paid £20 a month as agreed and I have records to prove that.
"I am disputing the award made for costs as I am no longer working and I have laid out my bankruptcy order before the court."
Mrs Shubrook said she was heartbroken to discover that the film missed out almost all of her twin sister Louise Taylor's speech.
She said: "He faded into Louise's speech about five minutes from the end.
"It was heartbreaking, we've got no recollection of our day at all. We don't care about the money but we've lost something from the day.
"We've nothing to show our children in the future. I just don't want anyone else to go through what we did."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... emony.html
staticgirl
Abominable Snowman
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2003
- Messages
- 995
escargot - I'm with you. Sounds to me like it was all show. What about what they were actually doing on that day - that was the most important bit. Gods I'm old-fashioned sometimes.
I suspect the camerman was an alkie....I actually feel a bit sorry for him if so.
I suspect the camerman was an alkie....I actually feel a bit sorry for him if so.
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2001
- Messages
- 54,631
Yes, but remember that effectively they'd been ripped off £350 for a product they didn't get, and were in court to recover the money. Naturally they'd bump up the rhetoric to stress their case, and that's what got reported.staticgirl said:
My wedding photos were taken by a friend for nothing, and were better than the marriage deserved, as it turned out...
Mythopoeika
I am a meat popsicle
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2001
- Messages
- 51,690
- Location
- Inside a starship, watching puny humans from afar
Funnily enough, I was both the driver and photographer at my friend's registry office wedding on Saturday.
The photos came out pretty well by and large, but because I'm a complete amateur I forgot to change the resolution setting to the highest - so all the pictures came out at 1 megapixel (aaargh).
Thankfully we had my friend's camera as backup, so those pics came out at full res.
Even though they're 1 megapixel pictures, they are exceptionally clear and I think they may be able to get good prints from them.
The photos came out pretty well by and large, but because I'm a complete amateur I forgot to change the resolution setting to the highest - so all the pictures came out at 1 megapixel (aaargh).
Thankfully we had my friend's camera as backup, so those pics came out at full res.
Even though they're 1 megapixel pictures, they are exceptionally clear and I think they may be able to get good prints from them.