Harry and the shopgirl: He’s tipped to wed his latest blue-blooded blonde. But one of the first girls to catch Harry’s eye was a humble grocery assistant who’s never spoken of their secret dates…until now

After losing his beloved mother at the age of just 12, it was weeks before Prince Harry smiled in public again.

And who helped him finally set aside his grief for a few brief, joyous moments?

None other than the Spice Girls. He’d seen them perform in Johannesburg as part of a surprise trip to help him cope with the summer’s overwhelming events.

Afterwards, the stars had played their part to perfection, making a fuss of him backstage and introducing him to their celebrity guests.

Harry’s girls: From a grocery girl to older women, in the second part of our exclusive serialisation, we look at the girls who’ve won Prince Harry’s affections

A few months later, the group came to visit Harry at Highgrove, flying in by helicopter and staying for tea. After they had gone, the delighted boy said to his father: ‘That was the second best day of my life.’ ‘What was the best day then?’ asked Charles. ‘The first time I met them,’ replied the prince.

Now 27, Harry has moved on – up to a point. Writing to a friend, he said his official tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen last May was ‘one of the happiest times of my life – even better than meeting the Spice Girls.’ But his fondness for attractive female company continues.

His latest girlfriend, 24-year-old socialite Cressida Bonas, is entirely in the traditional Harry mould: tall, blonde, leggy and well-connected. The prince was, say friends, smitten from the moment they were introduced by his cousin Eugenie last year.

‘She’s very stable, and a most suitable potential bride for the prince,’ says one friend. ‘Intellectually, she is probably his superior. I’d bet on her being the one when the time comes for him to choose his princess.’

It’s even said that Harry’s aunt, the Duchess of York, has been encouraging Harry to propose to former Burberry model Cressida.

But according to another close to the prince, he’s in no hurry. ‘I’m told they talked of marriage in Switzerland this year. Fergie was urging him to propose, but H wouldn’t go that far.

‘That said, he’s seen how happy marriage has made his brother and I think he wants some of that. ‘I’m also informed that Cressida’s mother has told Eugenie she’d love to see them settle down together, but Cressida won’t be rushed any more than he will.’ It is a timely observation, with reports emerging only last week that Cressida does not see her future with the Queen’s grandson.

Harry himself said during an interview last year: ‘As any girl would tell you, it’s sort of “Oh my God, he’s a prince! No thank you.” And, sadly, he added: ‘I’m not so much looking for someone to fulfil the role, but more, you know, finding someone who would be willing to take it on.’

Royal romances: Harry’s latest girlfriend Cressida Bonas (top) is tipped to one day become a princess, but sources say the prince is no rush to propose. Before Cressida, he had been in a turbulent on-off relationship with glamorous law student Chelsy Davy (bottom)

 

In truth, there has been no shortage of volunteers. And as I can reveal, not all of them have been as blue-blooded as Cressida.

From the moment he set eyes on the beautiful Laura Gerard Leigh during his troubled time at Eton, Harry fell head-over-heels in love.

Laura’s family’s connections with the royals promised a match made in heaven.

Prince Philip, who’d always feared that risk-loving Harry would make a reckless choice, was said to be delighted when he learned of the budding romance between his grandson and the granddaughter of one of his closest polo-playing friends.

Past flings: Prince Harry had a two-month romance with lingerie model and aristocrat Florence Brudenell-Bruce (top) and a relationship with party-loving TV presenter Caroline Flack (bottom)

But Laura was not as besotted with Harry as he was with her. Letters he wrote professing his love failed to receive the desired answers. His romantic Valentine cards were responded to with jocular ones from Laura. ‘Harry was heartbroken,’ says an Eton contemporary.

‘I believe he turned to drinking copious quantities of vodka at that time because of it. ‘Laura wasn’t interested in titles and prospects – just love, real love. Her father was a multi-millionaire stockbroker so she didn’t have to care about money. Sadly, from what I witnessed, she decided she wasn’t in love with Harry.’

And then along came a rather different girl, called Margaret – her middle name, as she declines to be identified any further – whose fascinating and illuminating story has never been told until now.

Unlike the high-society beauties who traditionally inhabit Harry’s set, Margaret worked in a grocery store near Eton. They met when the prince, who was still at school, walked in to do some shopping.

‘He was very nice, very polite, and at first I didn’t even recognise him,’ she told me. ‘After we’d been chatting for a few minutes, he asked me if I would join him for a drink later.

– dailymail.co.uk

‘I told him I had a boyfriend, but he was very persuasive and I agreed to see him at a pub in a nearby town. ‘Another girl who worked with me whispered in my ear, “You know who that is, don’t you? It’s Prince William’s brother; it’s Prince Harry.” I was stunned.

‘The closest I had ever been to anyone famous was when Kenny Everett came to an event in our town and I plucked up the courage to ask him for an autograph.’

Margaret – whose part in Harry’s life has been confirmed to me by a member of the Royal Household, goes on: ‘I didn’t want to be seen with Harry by anyone who knew me, or, more importantly, someone who would tell my boyfriend, so we met up in this pub and I had cider and he had a beer.

‘He was really lovely, although I don’t think he really knew how to behave with someone from the other side of the tracks. Also, I felt so guilty because I knew my boyfriend would have been very upset if he knew.

‘We talked for more than an hour. He asked me about my job, whether I had any hobbies, and when I said I had to go because I needed to catch a certain bus, he asked me for my mobile number.

‘He didn’t offer me his, but he did ask me not to talk to anybody from the newspapers about him – which offended me a bit, so half-jokingly I said to him: “OK, on condition you don’t talk to them about me” – which made him laugh. ‘Anyway, he called me the next day and said he’d enjoyed my company and would like to see me again.

‘We met on two further occasions, and on the second he held my hand and kissed me and said he thought he was falling for me.

‘I felt awful, I liked him a lot but I knew it wouldn’t come to anything and that I risked losing the boy I’d been courting for nearly two years. I was also embarrassed, because there was a man who was obviously his minder hovering in the background.

‘Harry called me several times after that but I had to tell him I couldn’t see him again. He was pleading but I knew it was wrong. I could never be part of his world. ‘I cried buckets after that last call but he never rang me again. I went on to marry my boyfriend, and I’m pleased to say we’re very happy and have two lovely children.’

Margaret adds: ‘I still think about Harry. He’s such a lovely man, a true gentleman. It’s long been my secret and I guess his, too. I’ve read about his girlfriends and I hope he’s happy, but none of them seem like the girl he needs.’

Harry was to find brief consolation in the arms of the TV presenter Natalie Pinkham, a friend of his cousin Zara Phillips, and Beaufort polo club assistant Jo Davies.

But it was the glamorous law student Chelsy Davy who finally captured his heart. The two had met during their school years – Chelsy was a pupil at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, near Highgrove.

But only when their paths crossed again in 2004, during Harry’s gap year travels in Zimbabwe, where Chelsy’s millionaire father owns and runs a game reserve, did they fall deeply and swiftly in love. It was the start of a turbulent romance that would keep royal watchers intrigued for the best part of a decade.

Famous face: Harry was to find brief consolation in the arms of the TV presenter Natalie Pinkham

In a letter home to a former schoolfriend, Harry wrote that Chelsy was ‘the love of my life – this one’s unreal’. Announcing on his 21st birthday in 2005 that she was officially his girlfriend, Harry made the only public comment he has ever given about her, saying: ‘I would love to tell everyone how amazing she is. But you know, that is my private life.’

Not for nothing, however, has their rollercoaster relationship been described as ‘on-again, off-again’.

For although he was clearly in love with Chelsy, and she moved from Africa to study at Leeds University to be closer to him, Harry simply found it impossible to be faithful. In May 2006, Harry decided to have a night out on his own after watching a show headlined by Ozzy Osbourne and Lionel Ritchie.

In Knightsbridge, he bumped into Catherine Davies, a 34-year-old mother of two who had recently separated from her husband. Although 13 years younger than her and in a relationship, the young royal introduced himself with the words ‘Hi, I’m Harry,’ and, according to Mrs Davies, the pair were soon on a club crawl, travelling in the back of a Range Rover with two armed protection officers in the front.

They ended up in a flat in Chelsea belonging to a friend of Mrs Davies, where, apparently, they ate bacon sandwiches and posed for pictures in an empty bath.

She claimed the prince gave her ‘a long and lovely kiss’ before she was driven home to Battersea.

In Calgary, Canada, where he was on a training exercise with the Army, his very public flirtation with a barmaid, to whom he’d introduced himself as ‘Gary’ before asking her if she was wearing any underwear, undermined Chelsy’s trust yet further.

Chelsy let it be known that she ‘needed space’. The prince’s response was to hit the social circuit again, briefly teaming up with Astrid Harbord, a friend of Kate Middleton’s, who was spotted escorting him back to Clarence House after a celebratory night at the Chelsea haunt Raffles.

But in January 2008, when Harry’s first tour of duty in Afghanistan was abruptly halted after a news blackout was broken, it was Chelsy he phoned in his despair. Could she be there for him again?

She could, and the couple enjoyed a happy reunion on a rickety houseboat on Botswana’s Okavango delta, cooking their own meals and sleeping under the stars as they went.

Buckingham Palace began to take the relationship seriously. Here was a woman who could comfort a depressed and angry soldier in his hour of need. It had not escaped their attention, either, that he had started calling her ‘wifey’ and she in turn called him ‘hubby’.

Later that year, Chelsy would not only attend Harry’s cousin Peter Phillips’ wedding to Autumn Kelly – where she was introduced to the Queen – but she would also be invited to Prince Charles’s 60th birthday celebrations.

A year on, however, the pressures of their conflicting careers and long periods apart took their toll yet again.

And this time it was the party-loving TV presenter Caroline Flack who caught Harry’s eye. ‘He was fascinated by her wild, carefree attitude and rock-chick lifestyle,’ says a confidante of Miss Flack.

It took a royal adviser to convince Harry that the relationship would do him no good and would not play well with Chelsy, whom he still regarded, he admitted, as ‘the best thing that’s ever happened to me’.

The pair were reunited again in 2010 before splitting for good later that year, with Chelsy declaring that the life of a royal girlfriend is ‘not for me’. She would, however, go on to appear as his ‘plus one’ at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011, prompting speculation of yet another reconciliation.

She even helped him, it’s said, delete some of the saucier parts of his best man’s speech – including a reference to Kate’s ‘killer legs’. But hopes of a reconciliation were dashed when the pair fell out shortly afterwards – about what, no one will say. Some suggest, however, that William and Kate’s wedding had brought it vividly home to Chelsy exactly what was involved in being a royal bride.

Dating: Harry embarked on a two-month summer romance with lingerie model and aristocrat Florence Brudenell-Bruce

 

Harry announced on Facebook that he was ‘100 per cent single’ before embarking on a two-month summer romance with lingerie model and aristocrat Florence Brudenell-Bruce.

‘I think Harry wanted Chelsy to be sure she got the message that he’d moved on,’ says a friend.

‘His Facebook announcement was, I’m sure, sent as a message to Chelsy that if she wanted him back she would have to work for it.’ But one of his friends believes that in the months following their final split, Chelsy was never far from his mind.

‘He doesn’t know what to do, because she’s the only one he’s ever wanted to settle down with, and she’s just not interested in being a professional princess,’ says the friend.

‘I saw him cry one night in The Brompton [nightclub] because, although he was surrounded by beautiful girls who would have done anything for him, it was Chelsy he wanted to be with. She’s not bothered about the “Harry Hunters”: she treats them with the contempt they deserve.’

Another pal is even more forthcoming: ‘Don’t write Chelsy off,’ she says. ‘She was the love of his life for seven years, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t re-emerge at some point in the not-too-distant future.

‘I think they love each other and eventually they will get back together. In fact – and she’ll hate me for saying this – I believe they will marry once she is convinced, of course, that his wandering eye days are over.

True love: In a letter home to a former schoolfriend, Harry wrote that Chelsy was ‘the love of my life – this one’s unreal’

‘He still has a few tricks up his sleeve, I think. Watch this space.’

The fact is, Harry has always been unpredictable, impulsive – but as I can reveal tomorrow, also extraordinarily brave.

Agony of the alcoholic mother who gave up her 5-year-old daughter for the bottle

As she sank into the depths of alcohol addiction, Gillian McFarlane knew she had to do the best thing for her young daughter.

Rather than give up the bottle, however, the former air hostess made a decision that will horrify parents everywhere.

She packed five-year-old Sara’s suitcase and sent her to live with her Italian father in his homeland – so she could continue drinking herself into oblivion.

Gillian McFarlane did something that will shock parents everywhere: she gave up her child to sink further into alcoholism

Miss McFarlane has now given up alcohol but her daughter has settled in Italy and she has only seen her a handful of times since she left.

The 48-year-old, from Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, hopes her experiences in the grip of a deadly alcohol addiction will act as a cautionary tale.

She is racked with guilt for uprooting her only child and haunted by the look on little Sara’s face when she learned she was being sent away.

 

More…

• ‘There’s no grief so shattering as losing your twin’ Here, with raw emotion, one woman reveals how her identical sister’s death almost drove her to suicide
• Harry and the shopgirl: He’s tipped to wed his latest blue-blooded blonde. But one of the first girls to catch Harry’s eye was a humble grocery assistant who’s never spoken of their secret dates…until now
• Want to stay in love? Then DON’T live together. As more and more couples live apart, is this the death of romance? On the contrary, says novelist Deborah Moggach

The youngster is now 11 and lives in southern Italy – 1,200 miles from her mother – with businessman father Antonio Decesare, 38.

Miss McFarlane became teetotal two years ago after she was admitted to hospital and doctors warned that just another sip of alcohol could cost her her life.

The woman who once lived the glamorous life of an air hostess was unemployed and going speedily downhill

Recalling the moment she knew she could not look after her daughter, she said: ‘As disgraceful as it sounds, I didn’t have the energy to be a mother. All I wanted to do was drink. I’ll never forget Sara looking so confused when I started packing her bags to take her to her father.

‘It was heartbreaking and I felt full of guilt but at the time I thought it was the right thing to do.’

Miss McFarlane turned to drink three years after Sara was born when she and Mr Decesare split up in 2005. She began leaving Sara with family or friends while she sat at home drowning her sorrows.

She said: ‘I knew what I was doing was wrong but the urge to drink was just too strong.

‘It sounds awful but I resented the fact she was there because I couldn’t drink myself into oblivion.’

Miss McFarlane’s condition deteriorated when her mother died at 73 from stomach cancer, so she decided to send her child to live with her former partner.

She said: ‘I broke down when I packed her favourite teddy bear.  I hadn’t stopped loving Sara but I knew I had a big drink problem.

After Sara had gone, Miss McFarlane’s drinking continued. She even started to steal alcohol when she could not afford to buy it.

The youngster is now 11 and lives in southern Italy – 1,200 miles from her mother – with businessman father Antonio Decesare, 38

The woman who once lived the glamorous life of an air hostess was unemployed and going speedily downhill. She said: ‘I was a lost soul and I wanted to die.’

By early 2010, the alcohol was  taking its toll on her health.

‘My stomach was swollen and I looked like I was full-term pregnant. It was terrifying so I went to my GP to see what was going on.’

Tests revealed she had cirrhosis of the liver, kidney problems, fluid on the abdomen and a collapsed lung. ‘Doctors said if I touched one more sip of alcohol I’d die,’ she said.

She was admitted to Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary, where she remained for six months receiving help and counselling. It was there she realised she had to sort herself out for the sake of her daughter.

When she was discharged, she immediately threw out all the  alcohol in her home. Then she went to Italy to see Sara for the first time in five years.

Miss McFarlane said: ‘I get sad when I think about all those  precious moments I’ve missed out on.

But it wouldn’t be fair to uproot her now from the life she knows – and loves – in Italy.’

– dailymail.co.uk

Rihanna Stuns Clubbers

Rihanna stunned customers at a racy bar when she groped clubbers while wearing a raunchy outfit.

The ‘S&M’ hitmaker was reportedly spotted in a leather policewoman’s costume at the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto, Canada where she was said to be looking for a “wild time”.

A source told the Daily Star Sunday newspaper: “Rihanna was definitely on the prowl for a wild time.

“Even her bodyguards standing in a corner were gobsmacked when she approached men and women and started patting them down provocatively.”

Although the ‘Stay’ singer is currently in a relationship with Chris Brown – who is still on probation after assaulting her in 2009 – it is reported the customers seemed more “embarrassed” than Rihanna herself.

The witness revealed: “Some, who were standing there with their partners, seemed a bit embarrassed and one barmaid told her to get her hands off.

“But others just seemed to lap it up.”

The 25-year-old star was at the venue while she took a break from her ‘Diamonds’ world tour, and she was apparently flirting with male and female customers.

The insider added: “Rihanna told one good-looking young couple they were her ‘prisoners’ and started dirty dancing with them both.

“Then she ran her hands up and down their legs – and elsewhere.”

BANG Showbiz

Korean Twin Sisters Separated at Birth Find Each Other 따로 입양된 한국 쌍둥이, 페이스북에서 만나

For 25 years, two women on two separate continents lived their lives, completely unaware that they had a twin sister.

That is the incredible story of Anais and Samantha who were born in Korea, and then adopted by families on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

But that’s just the beginning.

Arirang’s Hwang Ji-hye reports.

Samantha Futerman, a Korean-American actress, was adopted by a familiy in the United States after birth.

Not that unfamiliar a story, but there was nothing familiar about what happened about one month ago, when Samantha received a Facebook message from a Korean-French woman named Anais Bordier who said the both of them were born on the same day in Seoul.

Anais, who introduced herself by her Korean name Kim Eun-wha, went on to say that they looked quote “very really similar.”

As Samantha opened Anais’s Facebook page, she was totally taken aback.

“When I looked at her photos, I was completely blown away. It was like looking at myself, except it wasn’t me.”

Anais, who is now a fashion designer, was the first to stumble across her double after her friends told her there was an American actress who looks just like her.

After doing some online research, she managed to connect with Samantha via Facebook, without any doubt that Samantha was her twin sister.

During their web cam chat, the two didn’t even have to verbalize what was so apparent, that the two looked identical to one another.

“Hi!”

“Hello! This is a really weird experience.”

“Yes, so weird!”

The two women felt like their story deserves to be shared with as many people as possible so they plan to make a documentary and have launched an internet campaign to finance it.

They’ve already secured 33-thousand U.S. dollars.

“Thank you so much for donating. We reached our goal in five days.

But everyone please keep donating and keep sharing our story.”

The film will focus on Samantha and Anais meeting in person for the very first time, something that looks set to happen in the very near future.

Police ‘missed chance’ to save girl, 17, from horrific double rape despite officers speaking to her and attacker BEFORE four-hour ordeal

A schoolgirl was raped twice outside a nightclub after police spoke to the drunk victim and one of her attackers but failed to intervene, it emerged today.

Two officers approached the teenage girl and one of her rapists, Darren Carr, after they were told there were ‘people having sex’ in Newcastle city centre in full view of passers-by.

Instead of taking action they told the 17-year-old to go home, but left her with Carr, who has now been jailed for subjecting her to a brutal four-hour ordeal on the street.

The details emerged as Carr, 26, and Edward Fowler, 25, were each sent to prison for seven and a half years for her rape.

Rapists: Darren Carr (top), who has been jailed for seven and a half years along with fellow rapist Edward Fowler (bottom), was spoken to by police before attacking his victim

Northumbria Police has now launched an investigation – and its chief constable has already been questioned  – after it was alleged officers missed the chance to save the teenager from the rapists’ clutches.

A court heard that the girl was thrown out of Digital nightclub for being too drunk and taken by a stranger to an alcove off Times Square in Newcastle, which at the time was packed with drinkers.

She claimed she was raped by this man, but after he pleaded not guilty in court the case against him was dropped.

While she was in the alcove Darren Carr came over and began raping her, asking the man ‘if he could have a go on her’. The stranger allegedly said yes, because she ‘wasn’t his lass’.

At this point, the defence said in court, Carr was approached by the police after a passing witness stopped two PCs to say they had seen people having sex in Times Square.

The officers, Newcastle Crown Court heard, approached the victim while she was  with Carr, spoke to her and left her in the early hours. She went on to be raped by both Carr and Edward Fowler.

Horror: A police van marks where the teenage victim was found sobbing after being attacked twice

The county’s Police Commissioner Vera Baird has already spoken with chief constable Sue Sim and has ordered her to provide a full report of the incident, ‘including how her officers were involved’.

She added: ‘If there are lessons to be learned, I will ensure that action is  taken.’

Ms Baird, the former Labour MP for Redcar, who is now the woman in charge of policing in Northumbria, said she started asking questions of the force the moment she heard about the attack.

The officer who approached the victim, Ms Baird said, told the teenage girl to  go home.

She said: ‘Legally, any female – or male – who is as drunk as everyone says  this teenager was hasn’t got the capacity to consent to sex.

‘So officers, who know that a man has just had sex with a woman in the street,  should take a great deal of notice of her condition.

‘A man has raped her and an intervention is called for.’

Scene: Police guard cordoned off areas of Newcastle upon Tyne after a teenage girl was raped by two men during a four hour ordeal last October

Ms Baird added: ‘I must add my personal praise for the bravery displayed by this teenager in working with both the police and CPS to ensure that these vile rapists were convicted and sent to prison for long periods.’

 

Northumbria Police have said there was nothing to suggest that the girl was at  risk when they approached her.

A spokeswoman said: ‘Earlier in the evening officers on patrol in Newcastle had reason to speak to the young woman and a man in Times Square.

‘At this point there were no offences apparent or disclosed to the officers and no signs of distress to the victim.

‘We are satisfied that the actions the officers took at the time were appropriate to the circumstances they were presented with.’

The spokeswoman added: ‘The victim has shown tremendous bravery and courage in working with police to help secure these convictions.

‘Fowler and Carr are vile, dangerous predators and Newcastle is a safer place with these men behind bars.

‘We acknowledge that lessons need to be learned and we are keen to work with  the local authority, licensed premises and door staff to ensure the safety of all women socialising in the city.’

 

– dailymail.co.uk

British housewife Lindsay Sandiford WILL be executed for drug smuggling in Bali after losing appeal against death sentence

• Lindsay Sandiford, 56, was sentenced to death in January by judges in Bali
• Grandmother caught smuggling cocaine worth £1.6million from Thailand
• Sandiford will be executed by firing squad if her death penalty is upheld
• Can now make a further appeal to Indonesia’s Supreme Court in Jakarta

Verdict: British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford has lost her appeal against her death sentence in Bali for drug trafficking

British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford has lost her appeal against her death sentence in Bali for drug trafficking.

A Bali High Court spokesman said a panel of judges on the Indonesian island upheld the sentence handed down to the 56-year-old in January.

Sandiford will be executed by firing squad if her death penalty is upheld. But she can now make a further appeal to Indonesia’s Supreme Court in Jakarta.

Drugs mule Sandiford was caught smuggling cocaine worth £1.6 million in the lining of a suitcase from Bangkok to the island last year.

She got a death sentence despite taking part in a sting after her arrest which resulted in the arrest and conviction of the smuggling plot’s alleged masterminds, who got lighter sentences.

Briton Julian Ponder, 43, the plot’s alleged mastermind, was sentenced to six years for possessing cocaine after initial accusations of conspiracy to traffic drugs were reduced.

His partner Rachel Dougall, 38, got one year for failing to report a crime while a third Briton, 40-year-old Paul Beales, jailed for four years for possessing drugs.

Sandiford claims she only agreed to carry the cocaine because of death threats to her son and says Ponder, Beale and Dougall organised her smuggling run from Bangkok to Bali.

She is on death row in the Bali’s notorious Kerobokan jail with Dougall, Ponder and Beale and claims to have been subjected to death threats for sneaking on them to police.

Lindsay Sandiford was caught smuggling cocaine worth £1.6million in her suitcase from Thailand

Dougall, whose six year-old daughter with Ponder, Kitty, is being cared for by her parents in Brighton, is due to walk free in May after completing her one-year sentence.

More…

• ‘Quit your job, buy a ticket, fall in love… never return!’ Facebook message posted by free spirit Sarah before she set off for India only to be stabbed to death on houseboat
• William Hague asks Indonesia to spare British grandmother convicted of drug smuggling from death penalty

The decision follows Foreign Secretary William Hague’s ealier plea not to execute the grandmother from Cheltenham.

Last month Mr Hague has sent a strongly-worded appeal to the three judges through the Foreign Office arguing Sandiford’s death penalty is ‘unwarranted because it is an excessive punishment’.

The 14-page submission, shown to the Mail on Sunday by a court insider, says the British government has ‘serious concerns’ over Sandiford’s case.

‘The government requests that the court takes into account the violations of Mrs Sandiford’s fundamental rights and decide that in these circumstances the death penalty would not be appropriate,’ it says.

Death sentence: The court told the grandmother she had shamed Bali’s tourism reputation by smuggling cocaine in the lining of her suitcase through the island’s international airport

Caught: Sandiford was arrested at Bali’s international airport with 10.6lb of cocaine in her possession

‘Allegations of mistreatment of Mrs Sandiford during the initial period in detention have been raised. This includes threats with a gun and sleep deprivation.

‘The UK government also has serious concerns at the absence of immediate – and prolonged delay of – consular notification. This is all the more concerning given the absence of legal representation and a translator during the period of detention.’

The document – known as an Amicus Brief  – says Sandiford’s death penalty should be reduced to a jail term and implies her execution would have diplomatic repercussions.

‘Mrs Sandiford is a 56 year old woman. She has two sons and an infant grandchild who would plainly be seriously affected were Mrs Sandiford to be executed,’ it says.

‘Mrs Sandiford cooperated with the authorities with a view to detaining others who were involved in the drug trafficking.

The British grandmother is being kept in Kerobokan jail in Bali, Indonesia. A court official confimed his office had received the appeal request from the prison

‘The High Court should take into account this cooperation, especially given that the others involved have now been convicted.’

British embassy officials in Indonesia did not learn of Sandiford’s arrest for nearly two weeks after her initial arrest as she cooperated in the drawn-out police sting.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has urged Indonesia not to execute drug smuggling grandmother Lindsay Sandiford

‘The (British) government wishes to draw the attention of the court to the allegations of mistreatment by officials when Mrs Sandiford was first detained,’ says the document.

‘This mistreatment constituted violations of Mrs Sandiford’s fundamental rights under international law and Indonesian constitutional law.

‘Mrs Sandiford was also not provided with a lawyer during the period of interrogation and in addition concerns have been raised about the adequacy of Mrs Sandiford’s legal representation during parts of the trial process.’

Criticising the January sentence in the district court in the island capital Denpasar, document argues: ‘It is not apparent that the court took account of these considerable mitigating factors when making its decision.

‘The fact that the prosecution did not seek the death penalty gives weight to the inappropriateness of the death sentence in Ms Sandiford’s case.’

Foreign Office spokesman Jonathan Farr said the amicus brief was not signed personally by Hague but by a representative of the Foreign Office ‘on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government’.

He added: ‘The amicus brief forms part of Lindsay Sandiford’s appeal against her death penalty sentence.

‘It continues to be the longstanding policy of the United Kingdom to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and we will do all we can assist British Nationals facing the death penalty.’

-dailymail.co.uk

‘Why didn’t they cut me off?’ Lonely man runs up £91,184 phone bill calling daytime chat line after splitting up with his girlfriend

• Kevin Waldrum, 45, ran up £91,184 phone bill calling adult chat lines
• Began calling after splitting from girlfriend of 2 years
• Claims he was unaware of costs and should have been ‘cut off’
• Continued to call after receiving first bill of £19,333.63 from Vodafone
• Company barred his SIM but he obtained a new one to continue calling
• Vodafone has cut total bill of £91,184 to £29,083 in ‘goodwill’
• Mr Waldrum has called the offer ‘rubbish’ and refuses to pay

A man has run up a staggering £91,184 phone bill in just three months after calling a daytime chat line to alleviate his loneliness.

Kevin Waldrum, began calling the premium rate chat line after splitting from his partner of 2 years.

The former security guard, from Gladstone Avenue, Loughborough, says he will continue to fight against paying the debt, which Vodafone have reduced to £29,083, claiming it has ruined his life and forced him to begin taking a variety of anti-anxiety medications.

Kevin Waldrum from Loughborough who has been charged more than £91,000 by Vodafone for calling adult entertainment services

The 45-year-old called the daytime chat line, which charges premium rates, after seeing an advert on television, and claims he was unaware of the mounting cost of his calls, which he made between September and November last year.

‘I was flicking through the daytime TV channels and I saw the advert,’ said Mr Waldrum. ‘I just wanted to see what is was all about.

‘You ring up and there’s all these options, they ask your name and sympathise with you’ he said.

Mr Waldrum holding a letter from Vodafone regarding his bill, which the company have reduced by over half as a gesture of goodwill

Mr Waldrum, who is currently unemployed, said that he felt able to speak to the girls about his heartache and that he had a special bond with one girl, ‘Hannah’ who he spoke to on a regular basis.

‘I was telling this girl Hannah about my previous relationship and how it had ended 18 months before and she told me that she was having problems with her boyfriend and it was all going wrong.

‘Her and the other girls had a nickname for me, I was so well-known there.

‘When I called up they used to say ‘Loughborough Kev is on the phone’.’

Kevin says he had a special bond with the women premium rate chat line (posed by model)

Despite an initial bill of £19,333.63 from his phone provider Vodafone, Mr Waldrum continued to make regular calls to the chat line.

He says he felt unable to stop: ‘I was back calling them pretty much right away

‘They used to warn you when a call was coming to the end of the 20 minutes you were allowed, and then I’d just phone straight back.

These calls resulted in a second bill of £71,850.67, which prompted Mr Waldrum to complain to Vodafone.

‘The Vodafone need shutting down because they’re ripping people off left, right and centre,’ he said.

‘I’m not putting all the blame on them but not even multi-millionaires would want to spend this much on a phone bill, surely, so why I have been allowed to go up to £91,000.

‘I admit I rang these numbers and it’s partly my own fault but the line should have gone dead before I started to incur such high charges.

‘They must be taking millions from poor people like me.

‘It has absolutely screwed my head up.

‘I am so down, depressed, desperate and anxious over the whole situation.

‘All I can think about from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed is, how am I going to pay these bills?

Mr Waldrum says the stress of  the bill forced him to visit his doctor, who put him on medication to control his stress.

He now takes Diazepam for his anxiety and Nitrazepam to help him sleep.

Mr Waldrum began calling the premium rate chatlines after splitting from his girlfriend of two years

But he said he will not be able to move on with his life until the situation is settled.

He said: ‘I called Vodafone and they said they were going to investigate but I haven’t heard anything since.

‘It’s been about six months of pure worry since then.

‘I’ve been totally traumatised by it. I have realised now, I just think ‘Why did I ever do that?’ I have deep regrets over it now.

‘Every time I see a Vodafone shop I start to feel physically sick and get a migraine and it makes me shake.

‘I want people to be aware how it can destroy lives. They have ruined my life.’

Kevin intends to continue to fight paying the remainder of his phone bill, which he says has ruined his life

Vodafone argue that they barred Mr Waldrum’s mobile phone for high charges but he ordered a replacement SIM from a shop to allow him to carry on calling the premium lines.

However Vodafone admitted they had missed an opportunity to alert Mr Waldrum to the higher costs at an earlier stage and following an investigation Vodafone has cut his bill to £29,083.

A spokesman for Vodafone said: ‘By his own admission, Mr Waldrum made calls to premium rate adult entertainment services more or less continuously over a period of two months until we suspended the services on October 21 when the total debt was £91,000.

‘We had previously barred a phone used by Mr Waldrum on September 11 for high usage but he got round this by requesting a replacement SIM card from a retail store, saying he had lost the original.

‘He was then able to continue to build up debt.

‘We cannot manage our customers’ spending for them, but we will try to alert them to it if we are aware of an unusual high spending pattern.

‘Looking back at the records, we can see that we could have alerted Mr Waldrum on September 18.

‘It can sometimes take several days for billing to register on our system, and by this time, his extreme use of premium rate services meant his bill was already £29,083.

Since we missed the opportunity to alert him at this stage, we will waive the charges of around £61,000 incurred after this point as a gesture of goodwill. Mr Waldrum remains liable for charges of £29,083.’

Kevin has said he will continue to fight against being held liable for the remaining amount – calling the offer ‘rubbish’.

He said: ‘They should drop the whole lot. They have to think about my health.

‘This is not about money anymore, it is about respecting people.

‘They haven’t even called me to tell me that the charges were being reduced.’

– dailymail.co.uk

Arab princess sues her sheikh ex-husband for £100m after not receiving ‘a penny’ since divorce (and had to sell Rolls-Royce as she couldn’t afford insurance)

• Meshkah Tawfik, 40, married Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim Al Thani, a member of Qatari royal family, in 1991
• Tawfik said she cannot pay school fees for their two children
• She said her chef, nanny, bodyguard and driver now work for her for free
• Decision to settle divorce in Britain is example of ‘forum shopping’ – where best legal jurisdiction is chosen to maximise chance of favourable outcome

An Arab princess who said she has not received ‘a penny’ since divorcing her husband – a member of the Qatari royal family – last year is suing him for a £100million share of his oil fortune in the British courts.

Meshkah Tawfik, 40, who married Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim Al Thani in 1991, said he had left her with so little money that she was forced to sell her £240,000 Rolls-Royce Ghost as she couldn’t afford the £15,000 insurance.

The couple, who both live in London, have two children – Prince Sultan, six, and Princess Sheikha, 13.

Meshkah Tawfik, 40, who married Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim Al Thani in 1991, said he had left her with so little money that she was forced to sell her Rolls-Royce Ghost (similar to the one pictured) as she couldn’t afford the £15,000 insurance

Tawfik said she cannot pay their school fees, adding that her four staff – a chef, nanny, bodyguard and driver – all work for free owing to her financial predicament, according to the Sunday Times.

The sheikh, 62, who was educated at Sandhurst and is said to be worth £800million, had married Tawfik in an Islamic ceremony in London.

The former interior, petroleum and finance minister obtained a divorce in Qatar, which she did not attend, after the couple become estranged several years ago.

Tawfik’s decision to settle their divorce in the UK is an example of ‘forum shopping’ – where the best legal jurisdiction is chosen to maximise the chance of a favourable outcome.

The mother-of-two lives in an £8million townhouse in Bayswater which, despite its price tag, is in state of disrepair, with peeling paint and a rat-infested basement.

‘I am suing him not for me but to get maintenance for the children. As members of the royal family they should not be living like this,’ she told the paper.

In 2010, the Al-Thani family purchased Harrods – and Tawfik illustrated her once lavish lifestyle by producing a statement of her daughter’s credit card bill from the store.

It showed that the 11-year-old had spent over £90,000 there in 2011.

Sheikh Hamad is said to own a portfolio of properties in Britain, the Middle East and US.

His uncle Khalifa, once emir of Qatar, was deposed in a bloodless coup by his son in 1995.

When Sheikh Hamad was found guilty of staging an abortive coup a year later, he and Tawfik left the country.

He was sentenced to death in his absence but this was revoked in 2006.

Tawfik has retained the services of family lawyer Ayesha Vardag.

Incredible close-up photography reveals the usually unseen beauty and vibrant colours of the insect world

Stunning wildlife photos have captured the secret lives of insects in incredible detail.

These colourful insects look more like models than small creatures as they pose for the camera in a set of extreme close ups.

The insects aren’t shy as they stand still to allow the photographer to capture their intricate detail.

The close up pictures allow the vibrant colours that exist within the insect world around us to be seen

 

Photographer Donald Jusa used the concept of macro photography to capture these unique pictures

 

The insects aren’t shy as they stand still to allow the photographer to capture their intricate detail

Amazing Mr Jusa is not a professional photographer, but took the shots in his spare time from working as a geologist at an Indonesian coal mining company

Photographer Donald Jusa from Bandung, Indonesia, had used the concept of macro photography to capture this set unique pictures.

The 32-year-old said: ‘I used a focus stacking technique for goal of getting detail and depth of focus that I wanted.

‘The insects had to be completely silent and steady so that the photographs could be considered successful.

Mr Jusa says he researched the insects in the photographs on the internet

 

The extrodinary levels of detail show the insects in an entirely new light, as the varied textures and colours of their skin is revealed

‘In order to capture these colourful insects so close up I was just three centimetres away.’

Mr Jusa, a geologist at an Indonesian coal mining company, found the insects near his office.

Each image was captured from as close as 3 centimeters away from the insects, revealing the usually hidden intricacies of their anatomy

The colourful insects look more like models than small creatures as they pose for the camera

He added: ‘All of the macro photographs were taken in my simple mini studio at my work.

‘I was lucky to find all of these unique insects in the forest where I work.

‘But I only knew a few insects before I got involved in macro photography.

‘I have set myself a goal to learn more about other species of insects that exist on this planet.

Photographer Donald Jusa from Bandung, Indonesia found the exotic looking insects near his office

Mr Jusa usedused a focus stacking technique in order to obtain such a high level of detail

‘I researched the insects in the photographs on the internet and some of my friends know more about them so they would teach me.

‘This is what motivated me to pursue insects macro photography because on this planet a lot of the insects are very unique and colourful.’

 

– dailymai.co.uk

Four teenage boys aged 15 and 16 held by police investigating murder of man, 40, who died after town centre attack

• Death of Glen Kitchens, 40, is being treated as murder
• Police were called to Worksop town centre to reports of an assault
• Flowers left near a police cordon in tribute to the dead man

Four teenagers arrested in connection with the death of a 40-year-old man who was attacked in a town centre will be kept in custody overnight, police have said.

The death of Glen Kitchens in Worksop is being treated as murder, Nottinghamshire Police said today.

Mr Kitchens, from the Sunnyside area of the town, was taken to hospital after reports of an assault at around 7.30pm in Bridge Street on Saturday, near its junction with Central Avenue and Ryton Street, police said.

Investigation: Police cordon off the scene as a murder enquiry gets under way after Glen Kitchens was attacked

Tribute: A bouquet of flowers is left at the scene where the 40-year-old man collapsed in Worksop

He was taken to Bassetlaw District Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The officers said they have arrested three 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old who continue to be questioned.

Tonight a Nottinghamshire Police spokesman said: ‘Mr Kitchens’ relatives are being supported by specially-trained detectives at this difficult time.’

He added: ‘As part of the murder inquiry, detectives are scouring CCTV from the town centre and speaking to witnesses in a bid to establish what happened.’

Earlier, speaking outside Worksop Police Station, Superintendent Paul Anderson said: ‘We would ask for members of the public who were in Worksop, specifically Bridge Street, at that time if they have seen a group of youths – a mixture of males and females – or are in receipt of any information, if they would contact Nottinghamshire Police.’

The senior officer said: ‘It’s a very serious inquiry where a man had died.

The victim was taken to Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop where he was pronounced dead

The 40-year-old victim was attacked in Bridge Street, Worksop, pictured, and died at hospital

‘We are treating it at this time as a murder inquiry.’

Mr Anderson added: ‘I can reassure the community of Worksop and the wider community that we are taking this very seriously.

‘Additional patrols and additional officers have placed in the town centre tonight.

‘We do not believe there is any risk to the residents of this town.’

He said a postmortem examination will take place in the next couple of days.

Mr Anderson said he still needed members of the public to come forward despite the arrests that have been made.

An area of the main shopping centre of Worksop was cordoned off today but the force said ‘officers are hoping to enable those shops affected by today’s disruption to open as normal tomorrow’.

Flowers have also been left near the cordon to mark the man’s death.

– dailymail.co.uk

46st Georgia who was Britain’s fattest teenager ‘fighting for life in hospital’ after catching skin infection

A 46 stone woman is said to be in a critical condition in hospital after a dangerous skin infection has left her fighting for her life.

Previously named Britain’s fattest teenager, Georgia Davis, 20, was admitted to the hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, on Friday suffering with the skin infection cellulitis.

Georgia is said to be drifting in and out of consciousness on a resuscitation ward, and is requiring assistance to breathe.

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Georgia Davis was admitted to hospital on Friday suffering from a severe skin infection

 

Georgia Davis, now aged 20,was previously named Britain’s fattest teenager, having battled with her weight since childhood

Georgia, who currently weighs about 46st after re-gaining 4st of the 16st she lost in a 9 month hospital stay, is said to be seriously ill, and requiring help with her breathing after cellulitis spread around her body

Stepdad Arthur Treoloar, 73, told The Sun: ‘We’ve been told it’s bad — really serious.

‘She was put on the ward on Friday and now she’s having to be helped to breathe. We’ve been told she might not make it.’

Georgia had lost nearly 16 stone during a nine month hospital stay, dropping from 56st to 40st 6lb, but has returned to her unhealthy diet since her release, piling on four stone in just five months.

She contracted cellulitis, a usually easily treated skin infection, in her leg, which left her unable to leave her armchair.

Georgia was dramatically admitted to hospital last summer after a desperate call to her mother Lesley, seen here with her daughter, when she become unable to stand

The infection, which is caused by bacteria entering the skin through a cut or abrasion, worsened and spread around her body.

Obese people are at increased risk of cellulitis due to skin breaking and becoming thin at fat folds and decreased circulation which allows the bacteria to enter and spread.

A 10ft by 10ft space was cut into to the top floor of her house so that the emergency services could remove Georgia when she was admitted to hospital last year

 

Extracting Georgia from her house, v, to take her to hospital last year, cost an estimated £100,000 and took 50 emergency workers eight hours

If the infection enters the blood stream it can cause sepsis and become life threatening.

Georgia first hit the headlines aged 15, when it was revealed she was flying to the US to enrol in a fat camp in a desperate attempt to shed some of her 33st girth.

She successfully lost 15 stone at the camp, however the teen began to gain weight again when she moved back into her parent’s home when her step father was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Georgia seen here aged 15 after she shed weight at a US fat camp, however she soon began to gain back the pounds

The teenager used to order up to 20 kebabs each week from a takeaway and gorge throughout the day on chocolate, crisps and two litre bottles of Coca Cola, causing her weight to balloon to 56st.

Georgia was dramatically admitted to the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales in June last year, after a terrifying call to her mother from her bedroom to tell her she couldn’t stand up.

Her size meant that the emergency services were unable to extract Georgia from her bedroom, and eventually were forced to demolish the walls of her house.

It cost an estimated £100,000 as emergency workers spent eight hours cutting her free as two walls of her home in Aberdare, South Wales, were demolished to remove her from her first-floor bedroom.

By the time the 50-man emergency team cut her free, she had not left the house for about eight months.

The then 19-year-old lost weight during her stay in the Prince Charles Hospital, going from 56st to 40st 6lb, after being placed on a strict diet.

At the time she vowed to lose weight and get her life back on track, saying: ‘I’m sick of being like this – I’m getting my life back.’

– dailymail.co.uk

 

 

Right-wing Danish MP offends Maoris by describing welcome greeting as ‘grotesque’!

• Marie Krarup has offended New Zealand’s Maoris
• Right-winger said she was shocked by ‘half naked man’
• Miss Karup visiting as part of defence delegation

A Danish MP has offended New Zealand’s Maoris by describing their traditional welcome dance as ‘uncivilised and grotesque’.

Right-wing politician Marie Krarup went on to say in a piece she wrote for a Danish newspaper that she was shocked to be welcomed by a dancing ‘half naked man’.

The traditional greeting, known as a powhiri, is given as an honour to visitors to New Zealand, but Miss Krarup has left the Maoris in no doubt that she failed to understand the value they all place upon the ceremony.

Offended: Danish MP Marie Krarup has angered New Zealand’s Maoris by describing their traditional welcome dance as ‘grotesque’ (file picture)

Miss Krarup recalled that when she arrived at the Devonport Naval Base, the headquarters of the Royal New Zealand Navy located on the North Island, she and the group she was with were greeted by a man shouting and screaming in Maori and poking his tongue out.

She felt like an idiot, she said, as she gave a hongi – rubbing her nose with a warrior – and the waiata, a Maori song, performed by naval personnel sounded like a Danish children’s song about a happy ladybird.

The song, she said, was accompanied by a ‘kindergarten-teacher-guitar-accompaniment.’

She dubbed the powhiri as an ‘uncivilised’ ritual and a marae, a communal or sacred gathering house, a ‘grotesque’ mark of multicultural worship.

Miss Krarup was part of a defence delegation visiting New Zealand last month.

‘When we came to a naval base, we were not received with a handshake or salute by uniformed men as usual,’ she wrote.

‘No we were welcomed with a Maori dance ritual, with a half-naked man in a grass skirt, shouting and screaming in Maori.’

Tradition: The New Zealand rugby team perform a traditional Maori dance prior to matches

The man, she said, performed ‘strange rituals and poked his tongue out.’

Referring to the marae, she said the temple was ‘decorated with God-figures with angry faces and large erect penisis.

‘It’s a mystery to me how the poor naval officers could endure both the ceremony and the surroundings.’

Maoris said today that the politician clearly had no understanding about the local culture and should have, at least, had the decency to read about it before arriving in the country.

Maori culture expert Dr Ranginui Walker, said her remarks showed complete ignorance.

‘She has a totally monocultural view of the world and doesn’t understand that the welcome she received is the highest honour,’ said Dr Walker.

‘Maori customs had obviously not been explained to her before her visit.

‘Her remarks are very short sighted.

‘Very often politicians are not as well educated as they make out to be,’ he added.

Murderers, rapists and paedophiles among 400 wanted criminals on run in the UK for more than five years

 

Killer: Dano Sonnex was found guilty of murdering two French students while at large despite having been recalled to jail

• 13 murderers, nine rapists and 17 people guilty of wounding at large
• More than 200 of the offenders are wanted by the Metropolitan Police
• Dano Sonnex found guilty of murdering two French students in 2009 while wanted for recall to jail

More than 400 wanted criminals, including murderers, paedophiles and rapists, have been at large in Britain for more than five years.

The dangerous offenders should have been returned to prison after committing fresh crimes or breaking the rules of their early release.

But they have evaded the police and are instead walking the streets. Critics said the criminals posed a ‘tremendous risk’ to the public.

A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that 413 offenders ‘unlawfully at large’ at the end of last year had been wanted for more than five years.

They included 48 violent offenders, comprising 13 convicted murderers, one other killer, three who attempted to kill, 17 guilty of wounding or other serious assaults and 14 of lower level violent crimes.

Nine were guilty of rape, three of gross indecency with children and 11 of other sexual offences.

The total also included 37 robbers, 44 convicted burglars and 97 drugs offenders.

Thirty-seven were thieves or were caught handling stolen goods and there were 66 fraudsters. The remainder committed motoring or unclassified crimes. The criminals came from across England and Wales, with more than 200 on the Metropolitan Police’s list and 41 wanted by the West Midlands force.

The extent of the problem emerged in 2009 when the Labour Government released numbers of offenders thought to be ‘unlawfully at large’.

But the new figures will raise concerns that police officers are failing to get to grips with the issue.

Peter Cuthbertson, chief executive of the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: ‘These shocking figures suggest that we should scale back the release on licence of serious offenders.

‘Too many dangerous criminals are taking it as an opportunity to escape and avoid justice for years. Public safety should come first.

‘Releasing so many killers and sex offenders on licence puts the public at tremendous risk.

‘Every year, a certain number abscond, wasting police time capturing them – or worse, they remain at large. Keeping serious offenders behind bars is important both for justice and for protecting the public.’

Recall: More than 400 criminals who should have been returned to prison after committing fresh crimes or breaking early release rules have been on the run for more than five years

In the most serious cases, police should return the individuals to custody within three days in a process known as ‘emergency recall’.

With less dangerous cases they have up to six days. But the figures show a number of the offenders have been missing for a long time. Most cases are from the last 14 years, but 21 go back to between 1984 and 1999.

Allowing recalled prisoners to remain at large can have disastrous consequences.

In 2009 Dano Sonnex was convicted of the murder of two French students, Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, in south-east London. It emerged during his trial that he was at large despite having been recalled to jail.

In the past, police forces have refused to name the individuals they are searching for, citing data protection.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the authorities were working ‘tirelessly’ to track the offenders down.

‘Over the last ten years, more than 99 per cent of offenders recalled to custody have been successfully returned to prison,’ he said.

‘Public protection is our priority and the authorities will tirelessly pursue such cases to help ensure these offenders are brought to justice.

‘Where an offender has died we are unable to remove them from the list until we receive a death certificate. Where an offender has fled the country, every effort is made to return them to face justice.’

Stingray mascot mocks Steve Irwin’s death

US baseball team the Tampa Bay Rays are forced to apologise after their stingray mascot held up a sign mocking Australian Steve Irwin’s death.

 

A US baseball team has apologised after its mascot was photographed holding a sign mocking the death of Steve Irwin.

Irwin died in 2006 when he was fatally struck in the chest by a stingray’s barb while fliming a documentary at the Great Barrier Reef.

The Tampa Bay Rays mascot, a stingray, posed at a match last week holding a fan’s sign that read “Rays To Do List”.

Top of the list, and crossed out, was ‘Steve Irwin’. Under this was the yet to be achieved ‘World Series’.

The team issued an apology after the photo circulated on the internet, and said fans were welcome to bring signs into the ballpark provided they were not offensive.

“The Tampa Bay Rays regret that this particular sign was displayed in the ballpark, and we apologise for the lapse in judgment,” a statement from the club said.

The sign’s creator Lloyd Johnson was unapologetic and said that critics should lighten up.

“I love Steve Irwin, but come on, it’s funny,” he said.

“Every time I stood up I was stopped to take a picture with someone.

“The reaction, at least from what I heard at the stadium and on Facebook, was positive.”

– © Fairfax NZ News

 

 

 

In a male-dominated industry, Siobhan Reddy is at the top of her game.

Got game … Siobhan Reddy of Media Molecule. Photo: Neale Haynes

There may not be too many people in the world who find work as much fun as Siobhan Reddy of Media Molecule, makers of the hugely successful Little Big Planet video game. Or who work in a more enticing space than the company’s headquarters, spread over the upper floors of a new block in the commuter-belt town of Guildford, south-east of London.

The open-plan office is kitted out like a giant playgroup with Dadaist overtones. There are pots of coloured crayons on low tables, stuffed toys and paper models on windowsills and hand drawn notices on doors – “Secret Treehouse. Everyone welcome!”. There is a storyboard for a new game with elements labelled “jealous parcels”, “unsent presents”, “angry boxes” and “empty souls”.

A pathway of bright pink carpet winds through banks of computers: “It’s our signature colour,” nods Reddy. “We call it Bastard Pink.” She pauses: “I’m not entirely sure why now.”

Siobhan Reddy.

The 34-year-old Australian has just been named one of the 100 most powerful women in Britain in a BBC poll, and she is frankly baffled: “I really don’t know how it came about,” she says. “Obviously everyone here is teasing me: like, where is your cape?” She emits a gurgle of laughter. “But I’m happy that the games industry is represented.”

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Reddy says she didn’t set out to work in games. “It was all a fluke; I was more interested in film, music and the web.” She grew up in Sydney: “I played pinball and went to arcades. I wasn’t an avid player but it was just around the time of PlayStation One, when games were beginning to be more than just pixels and had a narrative.”

She had a Saturday job at Phantom Records, made a fanzine and some short films and was headed for film and television school in Melbourne. Instead, aged 18, she left for the UK. “Lots of people I knew were coming here,” she says; “friends who were into games, and at that point there wasn’t much of an industry in Australia.”

She landed a job at Criterion, a studio making driving games. Is that where you drive a pretend car? I ask, displaying a remedial grasp of the games scene. She smiles kindly, “Yes, a pretend car.” We both laugh. She learnt how to be a producer, “working with a design team, helping them figure out how to make their ideas into a marketable product.”

In 2006 she joined Media Molecule. “There were only six of us then, in a room above a bathroom shop, and Little Big Planet was just a seedling concept,” she says. The game went on to sell 10 million units across all platforms and has won every award going – several times over, which makes Reddy a prime mover in an industry still perceived as overwhelmingly male. “There are more young girls playing than ever before,” she says, “but few of them see actually making games as a career path – they are put off the technology very early, unlike young men.”

Reddy has linked up with Belinda Parmar, founder of Lady Geek and its social enterprise arm, Little Miss Geek, dedicated to inspiring young girls to work in the games industry. “Siobhan is one of the very few women at the heart of games development,” says Parmar. “She is a fantastic role model for girls.”

Reddy’s 48 staff are currently working on two new projects. “One is called Tearaway,” she says, “and I’m pleased to say that I have finally managed to produce a fully-fledged female lead character.” In a virtual world where girls are commonly either helpless princesses or sexy sidekicks, this is a triumph.

Tearaway, she says, is set in a world made of paper. She shows me an intricately folded model of an elk. “We want people to make more papercraft in the physical world – we don’t know why, but we do – so everything you see in the game you can create yourself with paper!” This is hilarious. So you’ll be responsible for a worldwide origami obsession? “Quite possibly,” she smiles.

I follow Reddy along the Bastard Pink carpet, a sassy figure in a wool dress, above-the-knee black suede boots, jet-black hair with a thick fringe, bright red lipstick. We pass a shelf of soft toys – “one of the creative directors crochets them” – a festoon of lampshades hanging from the ceiling – “we like lampshades” – and rows of people apparently playing computer games but presumably working. “Yep,” Reddy nods, “working.”

We pass a display board bristling with Post-it notes – “everything changes and develops, it’s a fluid process” – and head upstairs to what Reddy calls “the decompression zone”, a light and airy common room with a kitchen full of brightly coloured appliances, a big refectory table, floor cushions and “the pet wall” pinned with photos of people’s dogs and cats. There is a deck overlooking the town where staff enjoy sausage sizzles, introduced by Reddy.

It’s a creative industry,” she says, “and you want to get the magic flowing with the right environment, but the flip side is to make sure what we make is successful.” So her role is to pull people back on course? “Yes, that’s primarily my job.” The company was sold to Sony two years ago: “I am the buffer between us and outside.”

Reddy and her partner have been together for 14 years. They have just moved out of Guildford to the countryside and she has an eight-month-old Labrador-Newfoundland cross that she is potty about – I am shown many photos on her iPhone. She is also wearing a ring set with several gemstones: is it an engagement ring? “No,” she says happily, “it’s a ‘we’re not getting married but I’d like a ring’ ring.”

And then one of the country’s most powerful women waves me off, still puzzling over how she came to be on the list.

“If you find out, let me know.”

– smh.com.au

Crystal Car Wash king accused of assaulting his neighbour

Accused … Anthony Sahade arrives at court. Photo: Nick Moir

 

 

Life on Sydney’s most expensive street was far from idyllic in May last year, when a brawl over a staircase broke out between two wealthy, warring neighbours, a court has heard.

Tensions were brewing between Crystal Car Wash magnate Anthony Sahade and his neighbour Eckhart Bischoff over the demolition of the staircase on a battleaxe block on Wolseley Road, Point Piper, Downing Centre Local Court heard on Monday.

The Land and Environment Court had ordered Mr Sahade to demolish the staircase, the construction of which had not been authorised.

Mr Bischoff’s wife Celia stood near Mr Sahade as he worked to knock it down on May 21, and Mr Bischoff said he then put himself in between them.

“Anthony said ‘Don’t touch me.’ He started to lash out at me with both fists clenched and was swinging punches at me. I heard Celia begin to scream,” Mr Bischoff said, reading from his police statement.

Mr Sahade has pleaded not guilty to assault charges over the alleged fight and is facing a hearing.

CCTV footage of the courtyard adjoining the properties captured Mr Bischoff yelling at Mr Sahade’s workmen about six days before the alleged brawl, Mr Sahade’s barrister, Clive Steirn, SC, said.

On the video, Mr Bischoff was heard to say: “One day I’m going to meet you somewhere and your tongue will be ripped out of your bloody mouth”.

He was also heard to call one workman a “goon” and others “obnoxious”.

Prosecutor, Sergeant Rick Mansley, said the workmen were transferring debris from the work site onto common property and dumping timber on flower beds.

Mr Bischoff said the argument with the workmen was against a backdrop of years of “intimidation” from Mr Sahade and his employees, but he would usually never insult workers.

“The whole thing was purely … set-up in order to get something. We’re all human.

“I stand by my original argument that I don’t do that, but when I’m confronted with people like that year after year … I do not have too much regret over making that comment.”

CCTV footage of the fight was also played, with the court hearing Celia repeatedly screaming “help” and “Oh my God”.

Mr Steirn asked Mr Bischoff if he was the aggressor.

“You walked over purposefully, spoiling for a fight, handed over your glasses and your phone to your wife and immediately assaulted Mr Sahade?”

“That is a lie,” Mr Bischoff said.

The hearing continues.

– smh.com.au

Australia Post faces backlash over increased delivery charges

Australia Post is increasing its service charges for parcel delivery. Photo: Simone De Peak

Price increases by Australia Post for delivery services will make it impossible for Australian websites to compete online with their foreign counterparts, worried business-owners say.

Australia Post on Monday faced a social media backlash from online shoppers furious over its increased prices for prepaid parcels, which came into effect this week.

Across Twitter, Facebook and the Australia Post website, the national postal service was inundated with hundreds of complaints over its decision to overhaul the postal system, resulting in increased costs for online sellers of up to 40 per cent.

Australia Post said the increase in prices were mostly “less than 7 per cent” and would now include tracking as standard.

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In the new scheme customers will now be able to choose a speed – same day, next day, or regular – and then choose add-ons such as extra cover or cash on delivery, a spokeswoman said.

However, online retailers will now have to pay for such services, some of which they used to receive for free as part of using registered post. That could mean price increases of up to 40 per cent, some retailers revealed, once add-ons were included.

The cost of Australia Posts’s signature-on-delivery service, once restricted to eBay sellers via the Click and Send service but now universally available, almost tripled, from $1 to $2.95.

Online business owners said the new price scheme meant they could no longer compete with international sellers.

Bookstore owner Chris Elworthy from Port Macquarie said he would now have to pay $11.70 in postage to send an $8 paperback book.

Booksellers in the UK can send the same book to Australia for around $3.

“They are bleeding us dry,” he said. “Why would people buy from Australia when they can buy from overseas?”

Online retailer Tabitha Fernando, who sells handmade clothes and nappies from Brisbane, said Australia Post’s price increase was a “direct hit” on online shopping.

“It’s really upsetting to a lot of people,” she said.

The price of a 500 gram prepaid package was $6 when she launched her online business three years ago. As of Monday, Ms Fernando would have to pay $8.35.

“We are being forced out,” she said. “I’m seeing New Zealand postage prices and it’s cheaper [for consumers] to buy from there than here.”

Consumer watchdog Choice demanded answers from Australia Post, saying the additional costs would be passed through to consumers.

“They have a fundamental responsibility to explain this,” Choice’s head of campaigns Matt Levey said.

“They are operating in an environment where people are buying domestically online at a faster rate than overseas.”

Australia Post’s changes come in the face of increased competition in the parcel delivery business, with online shopping in Australia now worth $13.1 billion, according to National Bank Australia.

On Monday, Toll Group signed up with the technology group TZ, chaired by Mark Bouris, to implement a locker system for online retail parcel deliveries, to begin in May.

This would give online shoppers access to their parcels via convenience stores, petrol stations, corporate and retail buildings and office parks across Australia.

– smh.com.au

Suspected pipe bomb found under car

A police officer collects evidence at the scene. Pic: Jerad Williams

 

POLICE detonated a device, believed to be a pipe bomb, found at a Gold Coast car dealership this morning.

The device was found by staff under a car which was on display outside the Nissan dealership on Christine Avenue, Robina, around 8.30am.

Police declared a 100m exclusion zone under the Public Safety Preservation Act. The area was re-opened at 11am.

“Specialist police attended and the device was detonated in a controlled environment,” police said.

“It was described as a home-made device in a length of steel piping.”.

Police say they were not aware of any threats made against the dealership.

Investigations are continuing.

– goldcoast.com.au

 

 

 

Truckie to lose $2.25m on Cronin Island beauty

Inside the five-bedroom Cronin Island mansion designed by renowned Sydney-based architect Alex Popov, which sits on a 1736sqm lot at 1 Southern Cross Drive and has 50m frontage to the Nerang River.

THE NSW truckie who 15 months ago bought the Cronin Island house built by the founder of the failed Equititrust group has signalled he is prepared to lose $2.25 million to bring his nightmare ownership of the controversial property to an end.

Garry Fulton, who paid $6.75 million for Mark McIvor’s riverfront house, has put it on the market at $4.5 million.

The move comes in the wake of two Fulton auction attempts to sell the Alex Popov-designed house against the backdrop of the Commonwealth Bank, which provided a $4.7 million mortgage, trying to take possession of it.

A $5.5 million conditional contract as a result of the second auction failed to go ahead.

Mr Fulton, who runs Fulton Transport at Kemps Creek, bought the five-bedroom house from receivers in January last year after they four months earlier knocked back a $4.55 million bid at auction. The $6.75 million paid by Mr Fulton’s company Vitago surprised market watchers, who believed the house would bring little more than $5 million.

Mr Fulton later revealed that he bought the house without ever setting foot on the 1730sq m Southern Cross Drive property.

He said he had only ever seen photographs of the house and regretted buying it.

“The house isn’t my scene — I’m an ordinary bloke who’s happy in a workshop or driving a truck,” he said. The Commonwealth Bank in May alleged fraud was involved in a credit application which saw it provide the $4.7 million mortgage.

The bank said Vitago supplied it with a Macquarie cash management trust account statement for an account which did not exist.

The CBA also said a tax office notice of assessment provided by Vitago was not genuine.

Vitago and Mr Fulton filed a defence document but matters have proceeded no further in court.

– goldcoast.com.au

Racist graffiti attack at Broadbeach Waters, Australia

Gold Coast City Council staff arrive to clean up the graffiti. Pic: Adam Head

POLICE are investigating after racist graffiti was daubed across homes in an upmarket Gold Coast suburb.

The Courier-Mail reports the slogans were spray-painted on more than a dozen fences in five streets at Broadbeach Waters overnight on Sunday.

A car and a boat were also targeted.

Local Neighbourhood Watch official Neal Hammond said the graffiti attack was ugly in more ways than one.

“The Gold Coast is supposed to be a cosmopolitan city where we’re all meant to be living in harmony so we take a very dim view of this sort of thing,” he said.

“I’d like to sit down with the people who did this and find out exactly what their problem is.”

Mr Hammond said he hoped distinctive graffiti ‘tags’ would help police quickly catch the vandals.

Gold Coast City Council crews moved in quickly to paint over the graffiti

– goldcoast.com.au

High flying 15-year-old joins Nitro Circus

Karlten Wolsey will perform in the Gold Coast show. Pic: Jeff Crow

BMX wonderkid Karlten Wolsey swept fear aside to land a 15m high, death-defying jump that has secured him a place performing in MTV’s Nitro Circus Gold Coast show and potentially an international career.

The 15-year-old Miami High student, who was headhunted by the show after he appeared in the Bulletin last year, aced an audition to clear Nitro’s infamous 15.2m high Gigant-A-Ramp when he joined pre-show rehearsals in Wollongong, NSW, on Saturday.

He not only made the terrifying jump. He nailed it four times and threw in a few backflips.

Nitro Circus Live creative manager Dov Ribnick said Karlten, of Nobby Beach, would now be invited to perform in front of 20,000 people at Skilled Park when the tour hits the Gold Coast on April 20.

If he can leap, backflip and pull off the tricks with the rest of the world-class professional riding cast, he’ll get a spot on the international sell-out tour across the US and Europe.

“We were really impressed with Karlten during rehearsals in Wollongong. He managed to land a backflip on his second run down the Gigant-A-Ramp, which was awesome,” said Mr Ribnick.

“Nitro Circus Live has the world’s best BMX riders performing the most difficult and dangerous tricks, so Karlten will have to bring something special to the show on the Gold Coast to earn his place on the tour.”

An ecstatic Karlten returned to the Gold Coast last night saying he was terrified as he stood at the top of the ramp, watching another motorbike rider crash.

“It was probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” he said.

“My stomach dropped and I didn’t regain it until I was in the air.

“I’d done the distance before but not the height and the speed you pick up.

“I was confident until I saw the ramp. I jumped the first one straight and then back flipped the next two.

“It was the most awesome experience.”

Karlten, who has been winning BMX championships since he was six, will spend two weeks perfecting his tricks ahead of the Gold Coast show.

– goldcoast.com.au

Halle Berry ‘Elated’

Halle Berry is “elated” to be pregnant.

The ‘Cloud Atlas’ actress – who already has a five-year-old daughter Nahla with her former boyfriend Gabriel Aubry – has confirmed she is expecting a baby with her fiance Olivier Martinez.

A spokesperson for the 46-year-old actress told UsMagazine.com: “We can confirm that Halle Berry and Olivier Martinez are expecting a child.”

Another source close to the actress said: “She’s elated.”

Halle is thought to be three months pregnant and is having a boy.

An insider told E! News: “Halle and Olivier are really excited. It’s a blessing. They can’t wait to have a baby together.”

Earlier this week Halle was forced to break up a fight between Olivier and a photographer.

She restrained her fiance and pushed him into their waiting car after a paparazzo accused him of pushing him at Los Angeles International Airport.

The incident happened when the French actor, 47, was trying to navigate his way out of the terminal while carrying Nahla after they arrived back from a break in Hawaii.

Halle became hysterical as they attempted to leave the area amid dozens of camera flashes and pleaded with photographers to leave them alone.

After a photographer told her “he pushed me,” she replied: “There is a child. There is a child here, that’s why you idiots.”

Olivier placed Nahla in their car and then attempted to confront the photographer but Halle said: “Olivier no, Olivier no” and pushed him into the vehicle.

BANG Showbiz

Michael Jackson Feared Being Assassinated

Michael Jackson was allegedly afraid of being assassinated on stage shortly before his death.

The King of Pop – who died in June 2009 after his doctor Conrad Murray, who is serving four years in jail on an involuntary manslaughter charge, administered a fatal dose of the anesthetic Propofol – agreed to a 50-date ‘This Is It’ concert residency at The O2 in London with promoter AEG Live because he believed the gun laws in the UK would provide him with more protection.

His friend Jason Pfeiffer told The Sun on Sunday newspaper: “The last time I saw him he ways saying his goodbyes to everyone in the office.

“It was like he knew he was never coming back, and he would often say he thought he was going to be shot on stage.

“He said the comeback was in England due to the gun laws there.

“That’s why he ditched a US comeback as people had access to guns here and would shoot him. He thought America was too dangerous.

“But he still had some fears that he would be shot on stage.”

Jason, who was the office manager for the late singer’s disgraced dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein, also claimed Michael “faked medical issues” so her could receive stronger painkillers and “demanded enough to knock out an elephant.”

He added: “Michael had a death wish with his drug addiction.

“He faked medical issues so that he could receive heavy-duty painkiller Demerol. Michael felt he was immune to normal volumes and begged for extra quantities.”

Michael’s mother Katherine Jackson, 82, who acts as a guardian for his children Prince Michael, 16, Paris, 15, and Blanket, 11, is currently involved in a $40 million wrongful death lawsuit against AEG Live, accusing the concert promoter of being responsible for negligently hiring Conrad to care for Michael as he prepared for his gigs in London.

The trial is expected to last up to three months.

BANG Showbiz

Accused killer ‘cut victim into pieces’

VICTIM: Hayden Miles.

DAVID HALLETT/Fairfax NZ

ACCUSED: Gavin John Gosnell denies killing Hayden Miles.

Murder-accused Gavin John Gosnell punched and kicked a Christchurch teenager until he was unconscious, then when he found him dead the following day, dismembered his body into 12 parts and buried the remains in two graveyards, a court has heard.

Gosnell, an unemployed 28-year-old, has pleaded not guilty for the murder of Christchurch teenager Hayden Miles on August 22, 2011.

Defence lawyer Craig Ruane told a High Court jury Gosnell should be convicted of manslaughter, not murder.

In his opening address to the court, Ruane said there was “no doubt at all” that Gosnell assaulted teenager Hayden Miles or that those injuries led to his death.

The question for the jury was: “What was going through his mind as he was assaulting Hayden Miles”.

Ruane warned the jury not to get distracted by “peripheral issues” – namely, how the body was disposed of.

He said evidence to be called during the course of the trial may be shocking and gruesome, but the case was above all, very sad.

The jury had previously heard an account of the night Hayden died from Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes.

He said Gosnell beat Hayden on August 22, causing his death, and on August 23 began the process of dismemberment, cutting the body into 12 parts and burying the remains in two Christchurch graveyards and in the backyard of his flat.

The remains were found by police four months later.

Hawes said it was unlikely to be disputed by the defence that Gosnell caused Hayden’s death.

Rather, the jury would have to decide what Gosnell was thinking at the time he assaulted Hayden: “What was he intending to do at that time”, he said.

The Crown’s position was that either Gosnell intended to kill Hayden, or that he beat him with intent to cause bodily injury that was likely to cause death, and was reckless as to whether that would cause his death.

Hawes said Gosnell punched and kicked Hayden in the face and continued to do so over a “prolonged” period of time and all through the flat where he lived, including outside and finally in the bathroom and shower area.

He said the beating was “brutal”, and continued while Hayden tried to crawl away and begged for help from Nicolette Vaux-Phillips, who was Gosnell’s girlfriend at the time.

Hayden was found dead on the couch the following morning.

Gosnell used a portable bandsaw and a knife to cut the body into 12 parts, Hawes says.

He put the remains in rubbish bags and into a backpack to transport them for burial.

Vaux-Phillips cleaned up the house.

The Crown intends to call 16 witnesses, including Hayden’s mother, Jacqui, and Nicolette Vaux-Phillips, who was Gosnell’s girlfriend at the time of Miles’ death.

The trial is set down for three weeks before Justice Chisholm.

Vaux-Phillips, 18, was sentenced last May to year’s home detention after admitting a charge of being an accessory after the fact to culpable homicide.

– © Fairfax NZ News

Nine-year sentence for bashing ‘deserved’

JAILED: Ioritana Tuau.

Phil Reid/Fairfax NZ

ROBERT BRYDEN: Living with severe brain damage.

Phil Reid/Fairfax NZ

VICKI BRYDEN: Said after sentencing that the jail term was deserved.

The mother of a man left child-like and unable to care for himself after being attacked in central Wellington says the offender deserved each of the nine years jail he received.

In the High Court at Wellington today Ioritana Tuau was sentenced for the kicking and stomping of Robert Bryden that caused severe brain damage.

Tuau, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr Bryden, 27, on September 15, 2011, in Tory St, central Wellington.

Mr Bryden’s mother Vicki said after sentencing that the jail term was deserved.

Tuau received some discount to his sentence for Mr Bryden having started the incident with a punch but Mrs Bryden said her son had stepped into what he thought was a woman being abused. He punched once and walked away but Tuau had hunted him down.

Mr Bryden’s family read harrowing statements about the effect the attack had on them all. Mr Bryden has not recovered enough to provide his own statement. He cannot remember the names of his family, and although he can count to 20 he cannot read or write.

His memory is so poor that he constantly asks questions, unable to retain information for even a minute. He needs 24-hour care and help with the most basic of tasks.

It emerged today that in the District Court in April last year Tuau had been given a sentencing indication – a judge’s assessment of the likely sentence that would be imposed if the offender pleaded guilty – of five years and three months. Tuau did not accept the indication and the matter moved to the High Court where the judge was not bound by the lower court’s indication.

High Court judge Justice Forrie Miller said the first judge’s indication was “extraordinarily generous”. He imposed a sentence of nine years’ jail and Tuau has to serve at least half the sentence before he can be considered for parole.

In a summary of facts presented to the court in February when Tuau pleaded guilty at the High Court in Rotorua, near where he has been living on bail, it was said Mr Bryden struck the first blow, Tuau stumbled and he and two other men tried to corner Mr Bryden and the two men he was with.

There was a dispute over what happened during the incident. In one version Tuau knocked Mr Bryden to the ground and then he kicked Mr Bryden repeatedly in the head while Tuau’s associates kicked his legs and feet.

Defence lawyer Liz Hall said she could not see where that version came from and the evidence was only that two men assaulted Mr Bryden.

The Crown said Tuau continued the attack alone, holding a handrail to strengthen his stance for the kicks.

He also stomped Mr Bryden’s head which made a thudding noise as it hit a concrete barrier behind him.

A woman intervened and Tuau ran off. He gave himself up to police six days later after security camera footage of him appeared on the Stuff.co.nz website. He said he did not remember what happened.

During sentencing Justice Miller said if society wanted to reduce violent offences committed under the influence of alcohol it had to inhibit people from drinking so much in the first place.

He said liquor licensing laws fostered the drinking culture through making it possible for cheap alcohol to be bought over extended hours.

– © Fairfax NZ News

Chainsaw attack ‘seemed appropriate’

MICHAEL COPP

CLEAR: Bomb disposal workers investigate the home of Christopher Gray after explosives were found there.

 

A former soldier caught with an arsenal of weapons and bombs at his mother’s house had written in a notebook how he planned to kill his former school vice-principal using a chainsaw, a court heard today.

Christopher Gray, 23, wrote that using a chainsaw instead of a gun “seemed appropriate” given what his former teacher had done to him.

He believed he would feel better, get his dignity back and be cured of his serious mental health issues if he went ahead with his murder plan.

Gray, who was found with images of Hitler, Osama bin Laden, the Columbine high school massacre, white supremacists, Nazis, and military-style weapons on his computer, pleaded guilty in the County Court to 12 charges of possessing and manufacturing explosive devices and weapons.

He joined the army in 2009 as a trained combat engineer, but was discharged a year later when he fired a shot at the Holsworthy army barracks in Sydney during training. Gray had not told the army about his mental health issues.

Judge Mark Dean today jailed Gray for a total of six years and three months with a non-parole period of four years and three months.

Judge Dean accepted Gray’s offending had been linked to his delusional beliefs and underlying psychiatric illness.

He said Gray’s offending was of the utmost seriousness and it appeared he had been planning “an act of mass violence”.

The judge said the need to protect the community from Gray had been a significant sentencing consideration for him.

When Gray was arrested he was in a psychotic state and not fit to be interviewed by police.

A psychological report revealed Gray was a fragile and paranoid individual pre-occupied with white supremacists and firearms.

Gray told the psychologist he would feel safer in “a magical white nation”.

Police had searched Gray’s bedroom at his mother’s Kurunjang home on December 14, 2011, and found a loaded sawn-off Stirling bolt action repeater rifle with a telescopic sight, a Winchester rifle, a home-made pen-knife pistol, bags of bullets, silencers, torches, knives, and knuckle dusters.

A home-made pistol, two home-made silencers, four knuckle-dusters, three Samurai swords, and a green metal box with the words, ‘Front Towards Enemy’ printed on it, were found in the garage.

In Gray’s car there was a sawn-off shotgun, an ammunition belt with 18 cartridges, a black woollen balaclava and a pair of black gloves.

When police went back to re-examine Gray’s bedroom they found a plastic bottle with a timing device attached to it. Smoke was coming from the box so police left the house and alerted the fire brigade.

The Victoria Police Bomb Response Unit was called in and police evacuated nearby houses and blocked off streets.

The unit spent three days examining the house and found numerous pipe bombs capable of causing serious injury or death.

Notebooks containing handwritten notes and drawings that included instructions on how to make explosive devices were also found.

Police seized a tape containing footage of Gray detonating a pipe bomb in a small plastic toy car and detonating an explosive device in the backyard.

Gray, who had an IQ of 120, saw himself as a “superior being” but because of his serious mental health issues he at one stage was seeing gargoyles and demonic figures talking to him through the television.

– The Age

School bus driver ties up girl

ADAM TRAFFORD

‘SURELY THIS CAN’T HAPPEN’: Michael Teggerth was amazed to learn his daughter had been tied up on a school bus.

Michael Teggerth was told his 11-year-old daughter Caitlyn, who has epilepsy and developmental delays, was tied up by a school bus driver, allegedly for trying to damage the bus.

”She has a very vivid imagination – she was pretending to be a lion or tiger and scratching the seat,” Teggerth said.

”When they tried to tie her up, she started fighting and the driver and the carer on the bus both slapped her.”

Teggerth said when he met staff from Caitlyn’s school, Ballarat Specialist School, later that day, they said nothing about the incident, but complained about her behaviour.

”When she pointed out, ‘I got tied up on the bus’, I thought, ‘That explains it’. Surely this can’t happen? This is the 21st century, not the 16th century.”

Teggerth is seeking damages in Australia’s Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, alleging discrimination and ”inhumane and degrading” treatment in breach of the charter of human rights for the act that occurred last year.

The Teggerth family’s disability advocate, Julie Phillips, said the use of physical restraint against a student with a disability was far from isolated in Victorian schools.

”It is very common unfortunately, and the reason is that it seems to be accepted practice by the Education Department in the behaviour management of children with disabilities,” she said.

A spokesman for Education Minister Martin Dixon said restraint should only be used in an emergency to prevent students from inflicting harm on themselves or others.

”The minister would be concerned if there are cases where restraint has not been used in line with that policy,” he said.

The restraint policy is silent on seclusion even though the Education Department told the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission it was a clear breach of policy.

Children with Disability Australia said ”abusive practices in schools” included the use of a martial arts instructor to train staff in behaviour management and the use of small rooms and small fenced areas as punishment.

In another case before the tribunal, Karen Oakes alleges her autistic son, who was then six, had his challenging behaviours addressed through seclusion and restraint at Alfredton Primary.

”The seclusion involved shutting him in a room for periods of time that were long enough that he soiled and urinated upon himself,” the complaint said.

“(The Oakes) also became aware (their son) was being forced to the ground and restrained, and dragged from one place to another.”

And in a third case before the Federal Court, Anne Maree Stewart alleges her son Matthew, who has Asperger’s syndrome, was subject to physical assault from staff at Maple Street Primary.

“The Department of Education admits to physically restraining Matthew and notes reflect that they did so, even for behaviour which was just described as ‘silly’,” the complaint form said.

A spokesman said the Victorian Education Department was unable to comment on individual cases due to respect for the privacy of students.

“In addition, the department is uanble to comment on cases that are subject to current legal proceedings,” he said.

Dixon’s spokesman said while the minister did not ”wish to underplay” concerns raised, the vast majority of staff responded in an effective and caring way to the difficult circumstances that arose in schools daily.

– The Age

Bosses hunting your Twitter raves

 

 

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know: be it Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections or Twitter followers.

How popular you are on these social media sites is becoming increasingly important as companies look for well-connected and influential people to bring firepower to their brands.

Digital experts say social media and recruitment now largely go hand in hand.

At the most basic level, companies check up on prospective employers to see if they make unsavoury postings online.

But firms are also using LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to find new employees – both by listing opportunities and by increasing the chatter between recruiters and the people looking for jobs.

Hays Recruitment New Zealand managing director Jason Walker said the firm had formed a relationship with LinkedIn – a social network space essentially for CVs – because they realised the massive importance of social media in recruitment.

“Social media has become an essential part of any organisation’s recruitment strategy,” he said.

“It is easier to generate talent through social media. A lot easier than it was four or five years ago.”

Walker said in a recent survey of 270 employers across New Zealand the company found that 64 per cent of employers used LinkedIn to find new employees, 50 per cent used Facebook and 10 per cent used Twitter.

Of those looking for jobs 74 per cent use LinkedIn, 24 per cent used Facebook, and 7 per cent used Twitter.

Tom Bates, the social influence director for digital strategists Contagion, said employers would look at a prospective employee’s social media presence to validate what the candidate was saying about their online profile.

“If someone says that they are influential and they are not even on Twitter, or don’t use social media well, then they are not being authentic or honest.”

Bates said he would look to social media to back up what a potential employee told him.

“When I am recruiting . . . I look first and foremost on LinkedIn. I look at the experience people have, their connections, because it gives a really open, transparent, easy way to source relevant people.

“I also look at all their other social media identities to get more of a sense of who they are, outside of the one-hour interview I may have with them. I look at their Facebook and Twitter and potentially Instagram and beyond to make sure there is a good cultural fit.”

Bates said there was a fine line for employers sussing out potential new recruits.

“There is a difference between an employer trying to access private information versus what is posted publicly. If it’s public domain then it is fair; if it’s not, then it’s not.”

The job-finding also worked in reverse with big corporates engaging with prospective employees online first.

“It is more a way to give a bit of insight to the business and develop a bit of open dialogue. It is a passive way to engage people.”

Bates said there was no longer an online and offline identity.

“Online is only going to become more prevalent – it just gives you better tools to be able to connect with the right people, the right jobs, the right information and, if you are an employer, get your company the right outcome more efficiently.

“I think what it does, rather than replace the real world, it just augments it and speeds it up. It gives you a better chance of success, rather than having to go through the same channels in a physical way.”

– © Fairfax NZ News

Microsoft prompts XP users to upgrade

 

Microsoft is prodding Windows XP users to consider upgrading to one its newer operating systems now its support for XP is due to end in one year.

IDC Research estimated XP was still running on 500,000 – or one in seven – New Zealand personal computers in February, making it the second-most popular operating system behind Windows 7.

Microsoft warned again today that it would stop supporting the operating system on April 8, 2014, which it said would leave those computers “open to potential vulnerabilities and security risks”.

Many consumers and businesses have been reluctant to upgrade from XP because it is relatively reliable and “does the job”.

But Microsoft New Zealand managing director Paul Muckleston claimed it was “not designed to handle today’s computing environment or cope with advanced cyber-attacks and the challenges of maintaining data privacy”.

There were big risks in continuing to use XP once Microsoft ended support, he said.

Users would then no longer receive security updates that helped protect computers from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that can steal personal information.

The risks were real and the only way businesses and consumers could protect themselves was to upgrade, Microsoft said.

It is a year since the company first announced the date for ending XP support and it has since consistently maintained there will be no reprieve.

TOP OPERATING SYSTEMS IN NEW ZEALAND, FEBRUARY 2013

Windows 7: 49.9%

Windows XP: 14.3%

MacOSX: 14.1%

Windows Vista: 7.6%

iOS: 7% Windows 8: 4.3%

Linux: 1%

(Source: IDC)

– © Fairfax NZ News

Gullible bargain hunter’s shock when he buys two ‘toy poodles’ for £100 only to be told by the vet that they are actually GIANT RATS pumped up with steroids

Gullible bargain hunters at Argentina’s largest bazaar are forking out hundreds of dollars for what they think are gorgeous toy poodles, only to discover that their cute pooch is in fact a ferret pumped up on steroids.

One retired man from Catamarca, duped by the knock-down price for a pedigree dog, became suspicious he had bought what Argentinians call a ‘Brazilian rat’ and when he returned home took the ‘dogs’ to a vet for their vaccinations.

Imagine his surprise when his suspicious were confirmed – he had in fact purchased two ferrets that had been given steroids at birth to increase their size and then had some extra grooming to make their coats resemble a fluffy toy poodle.

Scroll Down for Video (Spanish)

No longer an urban myth: People in the Argentinian market of La Salada are being sold ferrets (Brazilian rats – right) given steroids so that they resemble toy poodles

The ‘Brazilian rat’ was fed steroids at birth and groomed so that it resembled a toy poodle

Previously considered an urban legend of the giant La Salada market, local television news in the capital, Buenos Aires, discovered that the unidentified man was not alone – another woman had been told that she was buying a Chiuhuahua, but ended up with a ferret.

Both the woman and the retired man have not filed complaints.

Typically, toy poodle puppies cost upwards of $1,000 in the United States and a ferret will usually set someone back around $75.

Cute: A white toy poodle puppy stares lovingly at the camera – toy poodles typically cost upwards of $1,000

A typically fully grown ferret – not on steroids – is still smaller than a fully grown toy poodle

Compared to Mumbai’s infamous Dharavi slum, La Salada is a self contained micro-economic center of the Argentinian capital, largely filled with skilled Bolivian workers who have migrated.

A stark contrast to the sprawling wealth of some parts of Buenos Aires, La Salada is a collection of small and informal workers, distributors and entrepreneurs – some lucky enough to sell ferrets as dogs for $150.

La Salada in Buenos Aires is the biggest illegal market in South America. A high range of products is offered at the market for half the usual price

The dolls that come to life: Photographer documents the creepy faces of ventriloquist dummies through the ages

With their garishly painted wooden faces, hinged mouths and wide-eyed fixed stares, ventriloquist dummies have been the stuff of nightmares for children and adults alike, but for one photographer, they are the source of inspiration.

Photographer Matthew Rolston has been taking pictures of celebrities, doing projects for advertising agencies and working on music videos until in 2009 he paid a visit to the Vent Haven Museum.

The gallery, located in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, labelled as the world’s only museum of ventriloquist figures, with more than 700 dummies on display.

Vent Haven first piqued Rolston’s interest when he read a story about it in the New York Times. After paying a visit to the dummy exhibit, the photographer was hooked.

Rolston photographed more than 250 dolls and then whittled it down to the 100 that really ‘spoke’ to him.

All the dummies appear to have their own unique personality expressed in such details as a particular hairstyle, wrinkles painted on the face or an arched eyebrow.

The end result was a 224-page book titled Talking Heads: The Vent Haven Portraits, published by Pointed Leaf Press, which is currently on sale.

The photographer said that the response to his ventriloquist project has been overwhelmingly positive, even though dummies still have their detractors.

‘It seems that the image of the evil or demonized dummy is very much part of popular consciousness due to a number of rather clichéd books and films,’ he told Slate.

The figure of the demonic dummy possessed by forces of evil has been a mainstay in horror films and TV shows over the years.

From the Devil Doll in the eponymous 1964 B-movie horror flick to a creepy puppet named Morty in the 1990s genre classic The Tales from the Crypt starring Don Rickles, ventriloquist dummies have been the go-to villains – the incarnation of deep-seated childhood fears.

Creepy: With their garishly painted wooden faces, hinged mouths and wide-eyed stares, ventriloquist dummies have long been the stuff of nightmares

George the sailor, right, was created in late 19th century and was used by vaudeville ventriloquist Jules Vernon

Source of inspiration: Celebrity photographer Matthew Rolston got hooked on dummies after paying a visit in 2009 to the Vent Haven Museum

Hall of dolls: The gallery, located in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, is the world’s only museum of ventriloquist figures, with more than 700 dummies on display

Fascinating place: Vent Haven first piqued Rolston’s interest when he read a story about it in the New York Times

Dummy, you’re a star! Junior, right, appeared on the inaugural broadcast of Louisville, Kentucky’s WAVE-TV 3 on November 24, 1948, led by ventriloquist Norma Jabroe

Something for everyone: All the dummies have their own unique personality expressed in such details as a hairstyle, wrinkles painted on the face or an arched eyebrow

Unnatural selection: Roslton photographed more than 250 dolls and then whittled it down to the 100 that ‘spoke’ to him

Work of art: The end result was a 224-page book titled Talking Heads: The Vent Haven Portraits

Lucky find: Art Anteak was found by W.S. Berger in an antique shop on Race Street in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1900 and purchased for $8

Wide variety: All 700 dummies on exhibit come from different time periods, and many of them are fragile and appear peeling and rough hewn

Horror trope: The figure of the demonic dummy possessed by forces of evil has been a mainstay in horror films and TV shows over the years

Demonic dummies: Evil ventriloquist puppies have been featured in dozens of films and TV shows, from the Devil Doll in the eponymous 1964 B-movie to a creepy puppet named Morty in the The Tales from the Crypt

Embracing the dummy: The photographer said that the response to his ventriloquist project has been overwhelmingly positive

Product of passion: Vent Haven Museum was founded by William Shakespeare Berger, a Cincinnati businessman and amateur ventriloquist

Schoolboy, 15, found hanged at his home ‘was tormented by cyber bullies’

• Friends say Joshua Unsworth was hounded by internet trolls
• The 15-year-old was found dead behind his home in Lancashire
• School says staff and pupils are ‘shocked and upset’

Victim: Joshua Unsworth, 15, was found hanged after allegedly being bullied on social media sites

A schoolboy who was found hanged behind his home was the victim of cyber bullying, it is claimed.

The body of Joshua Unsworth, 15, was discovered on land in Goosnagh, Lancashire, on Thursday. Joshua’s friends claimed on social networking sites that he’d been bullied.

On the Facebook page RIP Josh Unsworth, Carys Haworth wrote: ‘Reading through all these posts makes me want to cry so much.

‘Josh you never deserved what them bullies said and did to you, hope you’re much happier up there and i promise you, you’ll never be forgotten! rest in peace.’

Ben Trafford added: ‘R.I.P Josh no one deserves to get bullied so much. You will be missed by everyone.’

Joshua was a year 11 pupil at St Cecilia’s Roman Catholic High School in Longridge.

Fellow pupils claimed he’d been taunted online and had been forced to shut down his Facebook account.

Headteacher Steve Tattersall said he had asked parents to talk to their children about the possible impact of making negative comments online.

He said: ‘I’m aware of some of the comments that are being made about Josh’s sad death on social networks, both by those who knew him, and those who did not.

‘It’s important to remember the feelings and privacy of Josh’s family while they are only just beginning to deal with their enormous loss.

‘We have asked our parents to talk to their children about the impact that social network comments can have on other people, as well as the risks involved in making themselves identifiable and potentially vulnerable.’

Mr Tattersall added everyone at the school was ‘extremely shocked and upset’.

Police are not treating Joshua’s death as suspicious.

The headteacher of Joshua’s school asked parents to make children aware of the effects of cyber-bullying

A Lancashire Police spokesman said: ‘Police and paramedics were called at around 6.50am on Thursday, April 4 to some land behind an address in Camforth Hall Lane in Goosnargh, following a report that a 15-year-old boy had been found hanging.

‘The boy was sadly pronounced dead at the scene and his death is not being treated as suspicious.

‘The boy’s family are being supported by specially trained family liaison officers.

‘We are in the very early stages of an investigation and it would be premature to speculate about the possible reason for his death.’

Joshua was a year 11 pupil at St Cecilia’s Roman Catholic High School in Longridge