Strangers' Britain
Chief pays up at last
A Nigerian chief whose two wives, 18 children and two nieces lived in a London hotel on the rates, finally paid the £5,520 bill to Westminster housing department. Chief Okerentugba Thompson said: "I am too big a fish for Britain." The family ran up the £200-a-night bill in November after being evicted from socialite Soraya Khashoggi's mansion home in London. They are staying at a secret address in Britain.Man was knifed 'because he looked happy'
A penniless man wandering London's West End stabbed an American visitor to death just because he looked wealthy and happy, a court was told "I was jealous," Nigerian Jubril Adejumo, 25, was said to have told detectives later."He looked as if he could go into all the posh places.
"I didn't particularly pick him as a victim. I was feeling cheated because he looked very rich and comfortable."
Adejumo did not rob his victim, banker John Sterling. "Men like him don't have cash," he was said to have told police.
"They have bank cards." The Old Bailey jury was also told Adejumo said: "I had no friends and no money, and I was alone and desperate.
"I had to let loose with my hands on someone. I wanted to cut someone."
Adejumo, who had been lodging in Clapham, South-West London, denies murdering Mr Sterling. His trial goes on
Get me to the grave on time!
A pig farmer's dying wish will be granted when the hearse carrying his coffin races to the graveyard at 70mph.Vassar Rowe, 79, loved sports cars and liked to drive at breakneck speed. On his deathbed he asked his family to make sure his hearse didn't hang about. So his funeral cortege will race through normally sedate Essex roads from Saffron Waldon to Clavering at a pace the fun-loving grandad would approve of. Vassar died at his Clavering home on Christmas day.
Sheik pays £95,000 for picnic wood
An Arab prince has bought one of England's finest bluebell woods so that he can hold a family picnic there once a year.The Saudi multi-millionaire has never seen the beauty spot, nestling in 40 acres. But that has not stopped him shelling out £95,000 for Bullock Wood near Colchester, Essex.
The prince fell in love with the wood the moment he saw photographs of it and is said to be thrilled with his purchase.
The centuries-old wood was put up for sale by the Colchester Housing Trust. A spokesman said: "It is an area of considerable natural beauty and has blue-bells, honeysuckle and 26 species of trees.".
Pensioners robbed five times over Christmas
A couple in their 80s living on a south London estate were burgled five times over the Christmas period. During the attacks on their home they were also beaten.The burglaries were not reported by the couple, who do not have a telephone, and they were rescued after a milkman found them injured.
Mr Henry Beaton, aged 87, of Maskell Close, St Martin's Estate, Tulse Hill, and his wife Violet, aged 84, were said to be in a satisfactory condition in hospital.
Their home was first burgled sometime between December 20 and 21, and then between December 23 and 24, December 30-31, New Year's Eve and early on New Year's Day. In the attack on the afternoon of New Year's Eve the couple were threatened with a handgun by the burglars, who took their door keys and £30 in cash.
At 1 a.m. on New Year's Day between two and four youths broke into the flat and held the couple for about six hours. Mr Beaton received broken ribs, bruising and a head wound. He was told that his toes would be cut off.
Snooze and be healthy
More snooze and less booze are vital for a healthier, longer life.Seven or eight hours sleep will not only keep you from an early grave, said the American Institute of Preventive Medicine.
It will make you less bad-tempered and a nicer person to live with.
Apart from sleeping well and cutting down on booze, the institute also advised Americans to shun fatty foods, kick the smoking habit, check their blood pressure, exercise regularly, practice relaxation and keep a positive attitude.
And, if they can't do all that, then make darn sure their seat belts are fastened.
Sleuth postman finds a Friend
An Australian couple were determined to overcome a snag when they posted a Christmas card to friends in England. They could not remember the address. The card reached the postmaster at Barnstaple, North Devon, with a note It read: "Mike and Judy live in a small village outside Barnstaple. Leave by the north side of the river, on the dual carriageway. Exactly where the dual carriageway ends, turn off to the right.The local postman followed the instructions and eventually delivered the card to Mr Mike Friend and his wife at Ashford.
