Local interest
Peter Robins 5:29pmHull: An unemployed man has been fined £75 after putting up 200 posters asking for work. The posters did bring him a job, however - with Mecca Bingo, which has agreed to pay his fine.
Wolverhampton: A man who called police to a domestic dispute has been jailed for six years after asking an officer to fetch his hat, which turned out to contain £4,000 worth of drugs. A subsequent search of his flat also found a safe containing £12,000 in cash.
Dartington: Two sheds were set ablaze by an electrical fault in a home-made sauna. When the fire was put out, at 3am, it was spreading towards a third shed where a man was asleep.
Stockton-on-Tees: A 61-year-old man has admitted feeding a greyhound Viagra in order to fix unlicensed dog races. The Viagra was part of a cocktail of drugs that he would give the dog when he wanted it to win. When he wanted it to lose, he fed it boiled cannabis.
Salford: A cupboard at a school science lab was set ablaze after some waste acid overheated. It reached ignition temperature around 9pm, at which point nobody was in the building.
Clitheroe: A boy of 15 has been sent home from school for refusing to shave his beard.
Canvey: Burglars stole two lightbulbs, worth approximately £1, from a flat in Link Road. They caused about £300 of damage forcing entry.
Gower peninsula: A tourist walking along a beach had his right eyeball pecked out by a gannet.
Edinburgh: A retired policeman has admitted to fraudulently claiming £16,000 in child tax credit. He used the money to pay school fees.
Bournemouth: A chip shop has been told it may remain open only if it employs bouncers on Friday and Saturday nights. Its licence was reviewed after the owner was accused of throwing hot oil at a customer.
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Fergus Pickering
July 15th, 2011 6:04pm Report this commentI think schools are getting above themselves. Why shouldn't the boy have a beard? In Tom Brown's Schooldays beards abound. And in Stalky and Co there are certainly moustaches.
Paul Hughes
July 15th, 2011 6:22pm Report this commentIt seems a little unreasonable to fine a man for getting off his arse and finding work. Such effort ought to be rewarded, surely?! I congratulate Coral for paying the fine for a man who displays such "get off your bike" initiative. I hope he has a long and happy career with them and that they profit enormously from his sense of get up and go.
Paul Hughes
July 15th, 2011 6:23pm Report this commentApologies to Mecca. You will receive the benefits, not Coral...
Verity
July 15th, 2011 8:32pm Report this commentPaul Hughes, well, I got a laugh out of your Jerry Lewis-like stumble, and your apology, but I too wish this enteprising young chap a profitable and useful career with MECCA.
Herbert Thornton
July 15th, 2011 9:04pm Report this commentIn these days of investigative journalism, I think the press sleuths should look further into the Clitheroe story.
Is the boy of local descent? Is he really 15 or is he in his twenties? What hobbies does he have? Does his religion require him to grow a beard? Does he have any children? Does he post in the Spectator calling himself Telemachus? Is he related to Gordon Brown? Why has he not been interviewed by the BBC? Do the NOTW records contain anything about him about him? Does Clitheroe have any No Go areas? Can the police help by supplying information?
cpt
July 16th, 2011 2:01am Report this commentI listened to an interview with the guy that got the job with Mecca and he was so excited to do so. This is a great story and shows that if you want work, it is out there. Let's not look at the rights and wrongs of councils, but appreciate the story for what it is.
First time in a long time that I heard something in the news to make me smile!
Andrew Allison
July 16th, 2011 11:12am Report this commentIf you get off your backside and look for work, you dererve praise, not a fine.
There is also another story from Hull where a woman was fined £75 because a sticker from her shop found its way on to a lampost. She didn't put it there; a customer did, but Hull City Council still wants its extra revenue regardless of the facts. http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Trader-fined-75-shop-sticker-lamppost/story-12927168-detail/story.html
Two stories that once again suggest councils are constantly looking for ways to tax us via the back door.
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