‘They have been accused of sexually abusing staff during a drunken rampage through the first-class cabin of an international flight.
Now Sydney men Jeremy Snaith and William Sergeant are eating fermented camel meat inside the notorious al-Wathba prison outside Abu Dhabi. in the United Arab Emirates.
The food is the least of their worries as the wheels of justice grind slowly and Snaith and Sergeant contemplate up to 15 years in a desert prison where the temperatures soar above 50 degrees and punishment includes stonings, lashings, overcrowding and sleeping in lice-infested blankets on cement floors.’
‘As the out-of-control police cruiser hurtled toward them Wednesday night, Crystal Legrand grabbed her two youngest children and took cover behind a wall.
Legrand’s boyfriend snatched up her eldest, a 4-year-old boy named Daviay, trying to reach safety, too, but they couldn’t escape.
The patrol car struck them, killing Daviay Legrand and shattering the boyfriend’s legs. Furious residents later massed at the crash scene and threw bottles and rocks at police. [..]
Two officers – one a rookie, the other an eight-year veteran – had been responding to the same report of a man with a gun when their cruisers collided at a downtown intersection. One of the cruisers slid onto the sidewalk, just a half-block from Legrand’s home. [..]
Another witness, Crystal Spearman, said: “First you heard the sirens, then you heard the tires screech, then you heard the bang. The little boy was laying there, severed in half.”‘
‘A Wendy’s manager was shot several times in the arm early Tuesday trying to protect the restaurant’s chili sauce, authorities said.
A man in the drive-through argued with an employee because he wanted more of the condiment, police said. The worker told the customer that restaurant policy prohibited a customer from getting more than three packets.
The man insisted on 10, reports said. The employee complied, but police said the customer wanted more.
When the manager came out to speak to the man, the customer shot the manager, Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Mary Walters said. He was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.’
‘A 27-year-old man described as one of the world’s most prolific spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said computer users across the Web could notice a decrease in the amount of junk e-mail.
Robert Alan Soloway is accused of using networks of compromised “zombie” computers to send out millions upon millions of spam e-mails.
“He’s one of the top 10 spammers in the world,” said Tim Cranton, a Microsoft Corp. lawyer who is senior director of the company’s Worldwide Internet Safety Programs. “He’s a huge problem for our customers. This is a very good day.”‘
‘A glittering bathtub made of gold worth nearly $1 million has been stolen from a resort hotel, an official said Wednesday. A worker at Kominato Hotel Mikazuki in Kamogawa, south of Tokyo, notified police that the fancy tub was missing from the hotel’s guest bathroom on the 10th floor, according to a local police official who only gave his surname, Ogawa.
The round tub, worth $987,000, is made of 18-karat gold and weighs 176 pounds. [..]
Someone apparently cut the chain attached to the door of a small section of the bathroom where the bathtub was placed, but not riveted, and made off with the tub, Ogawa said.
“We have no witness information and there are no video cameras,” he said. “We have no idea who took it,” the official said.’
‘Claims of terrorism represented less than 0.01 percent of charges filed in recent years in immigration courts by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, according to a report issued Sunday by an independent research group.
This comes despite the fact the Bush administration has repeatedly asserted that fighting terrorism is the central mission of DHS.
The Transactional Records Action Clearinghouse said it analyzed millions of previously undisclosed records obtained from the immigration courts under the Freedom of Information Act.
Of the 814,073 people charged by DHS in immigration courts during the past three years, 12 faced charges of terrorism, TRAC said.
Those 12 cases represent 0.0015 percent of the total number of cases filed.’
‘A former Democratic Party activist who left dog feces on the doorstep of U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave’s Greeley office during last year’s 4th Congressional District campaign was found not guilty Wednesday of criminal use of a noxious substance.
A Weld County jury deliberated about two hours before acquitting Kathleen Ensz of the misdemeanor count. Her trial began Tuesday.
Ensz’s lawyers never denied that their client left a Musgrave campaign brochure full of feces at the front door of the congresswoman’s office. But they argued that Ensz was making a statement protected by free speech – the poop was a symbol of what she thought of Musgrave’s politics.’
‘A Pakistani court has sent a couple to jail for three years on the grounds that they lied about the sex of the husband who is a transsexual.
The couple married last year, after the husband had undergone sex-change operations, but a medical team appointed by a high court in the city of Lahore found that the husband, Shumail Raj, 31, was a woman.
“There is sufficient evidence to establish that Shumail Raj is a woman,” Judge Khawaja Sharif said in his ruling.
He sentenced the couple to jail for three years and imposed a fine of 10,000 rupees ($166) each for perjury.’
‘Stolen birthday balloons sparked a fight in Laurel County on Monday in which a man and his 14-year-old son were charged with assault after a teenager was seriously injured, the sheriff’s office said.
Brad Freeman and Shawn Asher went to the home of Charles Murphy and his 14-year-old son Monday evening to ask about balloons that had been stolen from a birthday party earlier that day, according to a news release from the Laurel County sheriff’s office.
The four began to argue at the home on Old State Road in London, and Murphy allegedly hit Asher in the head with a piece of pipe, the release said.
Murphy’s son, whose name was not released, picked up a baseball bat and began to hit Asher as well.’
‘A duck found with a pocket knife in her back in Huntington Beach was recovering Monday, and authorities announced a $1,000 reward for anyone with information about whoever stabbed the mallard.
The female duck was brought to the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center Sunday at 10 a.m. by a member of the public who spotted it with the knife in its back at the Breakfast in the Park restaurant at 6622 Lakeview Drive, said Lisa Birkle, the center’s assistant wildlife director. The restaurant has views of a lake where many ducks swim, Birkle said.’
‘Dallas police are searching for six masked gunmen who ransacked a home on Leon Street early Monday morning. Officials said the thieves busted into the home at about 5:30 a.m., tied up several of the residents and then began collecting the family’s belongings.
The thieves stole jewelry, three plasma televisions, a video game system and even two puppies.’
‘A thief found out the hard way that robbing a woman isn’t the best way to capture her heart.
Two men robbed a U-Haul store around 3 p.m. Sunday, taking an unspecified amount of cash, according the store’s owner. But instead of fleeing, one man lingered and tried to strike up a conversation with the woman he had just robbed.
“He stuck around and was trying to get the female employee’s number,” U-Haul general manager Patrick Sobocinski said. “She said he was just saying, ‘Hey baby, you’re pretty fine.'” [..]
“She said he was saying, ‘Can I get your number and go out sometime,'” Sobocinski said.
No surprise ending here – the woman turned him down, and he fled.’
(4.7meg Windows media)
see it here »
‘Wrongly jailed after a woman cried rape, Warren Blackwell applied for compensation for his three wasted years in prison.
Torn from his family and sent to languish in jail as a convicted sex attacker, the innocent father-of-two imagined he was due a hefty sum for the miscarriage of justice.
Instead, he was flabbergasted to learn the Home Office now intends to charge him nearly £7,000 for “board and lodging”.
The money is for the cost of food and accommodation while he was behind bars, and will be deducted from whatever compensation he receives for wrongly imprisonment.’
‘As seen in the photos on the following 25 pages, not everyone looks glum when they pose for a mug shot. In fact, some arrestees are actually beaming when the sheriff’s deputy says “cheese.” The men and women pictured here were photographed over the past few weeks in police stations nationwide.’
‘A man was warned yesterday that he faced 10 months in jail if he again breached a barring order to stay away from his former partner.
Tina Doohan told a court how her ex had entered her home and defecated on her spaghetti bolognese dinner before rubbing it on her face. After this grotesque incident, the mother of one had her hand cut as she held up her plate.
Ms Doohan told the court her former partner Patrick McLaughlin had breached a barring order when he entered her home. McLaughlin claimed that she had soiled her own food and cut her own hand.’
‘Pakistani police have arrested nine people, four of them doctors, for abducting people, drugging them and stealing their kidneys for transplant operations, police said today.
Selling kidneys from living donors is not illegal in Pakistan, which medical experts say has a reputation as the world’s “kidney bazaar”.
But police said those arrested in the eastern city of Lahore tricked people then drugged them before removing their kidneys.
“These poor people were given tranquillisers and were deprived of their kidneys without their consent,” Lahore police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal told Reuters.’
‘A Lakewood, Ohio, landlord has been ordered by a judge to house arrest in one of his derelict buildings until he makes the proper repairs.
Lakewood Municipal Judge Patrick Carroll ordered Richard Naumann to live in his Lake Avenue apartment building — which has no heat, hot water, operable stoves or ovens — until proper repairs are made to the two buildings he owns, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Tuesday.
Naumann, who will only be allowed to leave the building between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. for work, will also be outfitted with an electronic monitoring device on his ankle to ensure he abides by the judge’s command, the newspaper said.’
‘A man has allegedly taken a tourist bus and its 13 passengers on a joy-ride around inner Sydney.
Police say the 33-year-old Abbotsford man was walking past the casino on Pirrama Road in Pyrmont about 8:50am AEST, when he boarded the bus with the motor running.
They say the man, who was allegedly drunk, drove off when the driver was standing nearby awaiting the arrival of other passengers for a sightseeing tour.
He allegedly drove along several local streets before returning to the point of departure.
Police say he then ran from the vehicle and was chased by the driver and a number of other people. Police on patrol joined the chase.’
‘A man once called one of the Internet’s most notorious pirates of music and movies was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison for blowing up a portable toilet, prosecutors said.
Bruce Forest, 50, was charged last year with a series of toilet explosions in 2005 and 2006. But under a plea agreement, Forest admitted only to blowing up one toilet in Weston in February 2006. No one was injured in any of the blasts.
His defense attorney and his wife said the incident was completely out of character for Forest. They said he had been addicted to painkillers initially taken for migraine headaches caused by a severe fall about 10 years ago. A prescribed drug intended to wean him off the painkillers caused psychotic episodes, they said.’
‘A police campaign to crack down on pickpockets has come too late to help the capital’s top crime fighter.
Police Chief Anstein Gjengedal’s wallet was snatched by a pickpocket as the campaign was set to begin, the Oslo newspaper Dagbladet reported Friday.
The police chief was on the Oslo airport train Monday when a group of people jostled him. When he checked a few minutes later, his wallet was gone.
“I didn’t have much money with me,” he was quoted as saying. “But it still wasn’t very nice.”
Gjengedal said he had followed police advice by having the wallet in the inner pocket of his jacket, but the thieves got it anyway.’
‘The body of a man who apparently tried to break into an elementary school was discovered Friday in an air conditioning duct on the school’s roof, police said.
CBS affiliate KPHO correspondent Omadelle Nelson reports that a parent dropping her child off Friday morning at Sierra Vista Elementary School smelled something strange, but initial investigations did not turn up the source.
The body was found later when a plumber investigated the odor, said Roosevelt School District Superintendent Mark Dowling. The school was evacuated.
Authorities think the man tried to climb through the duct, got stuck, and died. It wasn’t known how long the body was there.
“Obviously because of the smell, there are indications that he had been there for some time,” said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman.’
‘A man who fatally shot a teenage neighbor because he walked on the man’s carefully tended lawn was sentenced to life in prison.
Charles Martin, 67, must serve 18 years before he can be considered for parole, Clermont County Common Pleas Judge William Walker ordered Wednesday, adding that he would urge that Martin never be considered for parole. [..]
Martin told the court he was sorry the shooting occurred but said the teen knew how much Martin cared for his lawn and provoked him.
“He stepped on it and he walked 40 feet through it,” Martin said. “I cared about it. I cut it every five days.”‘
Followup to Man killed teen for walking across yard.
‘Customs officers at Cairo’s airport on Thursday detained a man bound for Saudi Arabia who was trying to smuggle 700 live snakes on a plane, airport authorities said.
The officers were stunned when a passenger, identified as Yahia Rahim Tulba, told them his carryon bag contained live snakes after he was asked to open it.
Tulba opened his bag to show the snakes to the police and asked the officers, who held a safe distance, not to come close. Among the various snakes, hidden in small cloth sacks, were two poisonous cobras, authorities said.’
‘A 14-year-old girl was murdered by a takeaway owner who joked with friends that she had been chopped up and mixed in with the kebabs, a court has heard.
It is alleged that Charlene Downes was killed by Iyad Albattikhi, who owns a fast food shop on Blackpool Promenade.
Prosecutors said Charlene was one of a number of girls who had sex with men who worked in fast food shops on the promenade, including Mr Albattikhi. [..]
Police started a missing persons inquiry, but later launched a murder probe after being told she had been “killed and chopped up”, the jury heard.
No trace of Charlene’s body has been found.’
‘An anti-drunk driving organization and a mother who lost a son to a drunk driver are livid after finding out a southwest Atlanta package store sells liquor and cups of ice through its drive-thru.
A store employee told Channel 2’s Tom Jones that it is an American right for people to buy liquor and a cup of ice to drink on their way home.
State regulations clearly show it is a state violation for package stores to sell anything but bags of ice. That means cups of ice are not allowed. An employee at one liquor store told Channel 2 that’s un-American.
“It’s the American way,” said employee Chris Melton.’
‘Being crazy is hard, but it’s worth the effort. Especially if you’re a cop, paramedic, or social worker who may someday need to deal with a person having a psychotic episode. At those times, empathy can be crucial.
That’s where Virtual Hallucinations comes in. The training device, created by Janssen L.P., is a rig with earphones and goggles that plunges the wearer into the mind of a serious schizophrenic. The system offers two interactive scenarios. In one, you’re riding a bus in which other riders appear and disappear, birds of prey claw at the windows, and voices hiss, “He’s taking you back to the FBI!” The other features a trip to the drugstore, where the pharmacist seems to be handing you poison instead of pills, and hostile customers stare at you in disgust.’
‘A 31-year-old man was sentenced Monday to more than 24 years in federal prison for posing online as a teenage boy dying of leukemia in an effort to coerce young girls into sending him sexually explicit images.
Joshua Kistler chatted regularly with at least nine girls nationwide who ranged in age from 12 to 14. He used the condition to gain the girls’ sympathy, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
He even sent them pictures of his stepson, an actual 15-year old, to further his story, authorities said.
He also posed as the stepfather of his online persona. In one case, a victim and her mother visited the “stepfather” during a family trip, believing the teenage boy was away receiving treatment.
Several victims said they loved and trusted Kistler, who asked them to send photos of them nude or perform sexual acts for him in front of Web cameras.’
‘A 38-year-old man has had part of a finger bitten off in a bizarre suspected road rage incident in Adelaide.
Police say the man was driving in East Terrace, Black Forest, yesterday when he stopped to check on a trailer he was towing.
As he did, he exchanged words with a group of men standing on the side of the road.
“For unknown reasons the exchange developed further and blows were traded with one of the men from the group,” a police spokesman said.
“During the altercation the victim had the top of his left middle finger bitten off down to the first knuckle.”‘
‘A company boss lived a double life as a cross-dresser who flashed at terrified women, a jury heard yesterday.
By day Michael Willshire was the respectable managing director of an aluminium tubing firm.
But at night he donned stockings and suspenders, wigs, high heels and dresses beneath an overcoat and exposed himself to females, it was said.
Unwed Willshire, 47, allegedly terrorised the seaside town of Swanage, Dorset, for a two-year period. [..]
Willshire was allegedly caught when another victim’s dad saw him fleeing and pinned him against his Audi TT car.
Police arrested him and found him wearing suspenders and white jazz dance shoes, it was said.’
‘A disabled gran was stabbed 97 times by her killer — for 32p in her piggy bank.
Frail Ann Alfanso, 61, was knifed in the head, body, hands and neck by drug-crazed John Mansfield.
Convicted robber Mansfield, 45, was high on heroin, morphine, cocaine and methadone when he used two knives and scissors to butcher his victim, who lived alone.
A court was told that one blade went right through one of Mrs Alfanso’s hands as she tried to protect herself. As he hunted for cash, Mansfield dragged her around her flat before raiding the piggy bank beside the phone and fleeing, leaving her for dead.’
