Strangers' Britain
Charity boss squandered money
Charity boss Vivian Goldberg has been jailed for three years for pocketing thousands of pounds. The money was supposed to go to needy children and old folk.In one year £108,000 was collected in pubs, but only £1,699 reached those in need, Chelmsford Crown Court heard. Goldberg, 57, set up the Association for Mentally Handicapped and Physically Handicapped Children and the Elderly and ran it from his home in South Woodham Ferrers, Essex.
Sex spree of a pensioner
Pensioner Edward Turner stole £1,000 to pay for sex with a vice girl he met in a top London hotel.After his arrest he told police he took the money from his former employers because "she was very good in bed." Their sex sessions went on for over two years before he was caught. Turner, 65, a former wages clerk of West Ealing, London, was jailed for nine months at Willesden Crown Court. He was said to have a previous similar conviction involving a woman friend.
Whambogram!
Rambo-girl Melanie Havey stalked into soldier Paul Clark's party to deliver a birthday message - and accidentally shot him.The blonde's toy cap gun scorched Paul's shoulder as she shouted: "Kiss me people. or I'll blow your head off."
Amazed party-goers saw the birthday boy taken off to hospital with a three-inch burn. His mum Peggy booked the Rambo gram girl as a surprise for the party at a pub in West Stockwith, near Doncaster.
"Paul was fine about it and his soldier mates thought it was hilarious."
Mum dumps twin babes
A young mother who dumped her twin sons at a social services office returned after a week to reclaim them. But the children had been taken into social care. The baby brothers, aged about nine months, were left in their push-chairs at the Cambridge office with a supply of clean clothing and milkLorraine, told social workers she was going to collect luggage from a taxi - and vanished.
Sex bias claim by overweight policewoman
A Ministry of Defence policewoman has claimed at an industrial tribunal that she was the victim of sexual discrimination because she was disciplined for being "grossly overweight and untidy".WPC Susan Macleod, aged 39, who weighs 13 stone and is 5ft 4ins tall, was put on report because of her appearance, the tribunal at Plymouth was told.
But she said policemen criticized for being too fat were not dealt with so severely.
Mr Michael Horwood, for the Ministry of Defence, called the case a "piffling matter". He said Mrs Macleod was treated in exactly the same way as overweight male officers. The tribunal deferred judgement and will give its findings at a later date.
Deaf-mute man moved from jail
Glen Pearson, a deaf-mute aged 33, of Hansard Crescent, Caistor, Lincolnshire, was ordered to be released immediately from prison where he had been remanded, accused of stealing £5, and moved to Harmston Hall Hospital, near Lincoln.The order, by Judge Wilcox at Lincoln Crown Court, followed protests by two MPS and a petition signed by 1,200
Ken, 71, wins car No. 3
Lucky Ken Temple has just won his third car in five years all in raffles. Which isn't bad going - he has entered only four. His latest prize is a Nissan Micra, top prize in a local hospital draw.Five years ago he won a Jaguar XJS and Cortina. Ken, 71, of Norwich, said: "I sold them, but I would have kept the prize in the one raffle that got away. That was a Rolls."
No. 10 driver's 'sex at Joe's cafe'
Premier Margaret Thatcher's car has told of her sex sessions outside Joe's Cafe. Patreen Perry says that chauffeur Peter Smithson regularly drove her to the East End spot so they could "have it away" in the back of Sir Geoffrey Howe's car.The car, which was used by Mrs Thatcher, was loaned to Sir Geoffrey while his was off the road.
Later, after the affair turned sour, Patreen wrote to Sir Geoffrey describing what happened, but she said she received no reply.
Widow dies for her dogs
A wealthy widow died trying to keep her 21 dogs warm. Mary Harradence, in her seventies, cuddled up with the pets down- stairs at her home in Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. But she and 15 of her chihuahua dogs were killed by fumes from a blocked stove.Boy killed as pals dare him to run over road
A boy of five was killed - playing "chicken" on a dual carriageway.Steven Atkinson joined two playmates who were deliberately running in front of traffic on the A189 at Cramlington, Northumberland.
His pals got to the other side, but little Steven was hit by a car and killed instantly. The children were playing the dare game near Steven's home in Catrail Place, Cramlington, after climbing up an embankment to get on to the road.
A Northumberland police spokesman said: "Unfortunately youngsters don't seem to take notice of our warnings. It's played all over the country and the idea is to be just missed by a car. Sadly, this young lad was not running fast enough. The car driver had no chance of avoiding him when he ran out."
Black sheep of the family
In a large family there is bound to be a boy or girl who never seems to do well or is always in trouble. He or she is "the black sheep of the family". For years, shepherds believed black sheep were a problem: their coat was valueless and it was believed (wrongly) that their colour frightened other sheep.The expression gradually came to apply to troublesome humans.
