Criminal Snoopy

A man tried to break into prison to free an inmate while dressed as the cartoon character Snoopy. Prison wardens were baffled when they were confronted by the character from the Peanuts cartoon trying to break down a staff door while apparently waving a gun. The man and an accomplice, who were attempting to free a relative from HMP Isle of Wight ,Britain, went on to hurl concrete missiles at prison officers’ cars.
A prison source told The Sun: “It’s not every day you see a giant cartoon dog go on the rampage after trying to break into a prison. They weren’t exactly inconspicuous but they were taken seriously because they appeared to have a gun. They caused a real commotion and it was only later they were found to be armed with a water pistol.”
It emerged after the pair were arrested that they had attempted to break into the wrong prison. They had staged the attempted jail-break at the Isle of Wight’s Albany site, while the relative they were looking for was locked up in the nearby Cramp Hill unit.
The source added: “This has got to rank as one of the worst attempted jail breaks ever.”
A spokesman for Hampshire Police said two men, aged 43 and 21, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and held under the Mental Health Act after the incident on May 1.
It is not clear which of the two men was dressed as Snoopy.

Im-mobile house

A man makes his car his permanent home when it breaks down in the middle of te Arabian Desert.
Saad al-Qahtani was driving in the western Saudi desert between Mecca and Jeddah one day 18 years ago when his beloved Chevrolet Suburban broke down. He couldn’t fix it, so he did the next best thing: he stayed there and made it his home. The 61-year-old man’s parents and sisters had all passed away by that time, according to the Saudi Gazette on Saturday. He had lost his security guard job for health reasons, tried cattle ranching but the livestock all went missing, so he began driving on odd jobs in the area until the fateful day when the huge SUV gave in. Instead of calling a mechanic, he decided to make it his permanent home.


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Junior Voter

A 14 year old boy, named locally as Alfie McKenzie of Carleton near Pulton, Lancs, managed to evade basic checks to cast a vote in the Wyre and Preston North Constituency during the 2010 General Elections in Britain. The legal voting age is currently 18.

It came on the night in which hundreds of adults were denied the chance to vote by long queues at polling stations.
Alfie, who stood as a candidate in his school election before defying taking part in the real thing, was questioned by police over the breach.

His mother, Nadine, said:"Alfie is sorry is he has caused any mayhem- he loves his politics and I am sure just wanted to be part of the Election process. Sadly at 14 that cannot be done."
Lancashire Police were called in to investigate after a tip off. Jim Corry, chief executive of Wyre Borough Council, confirmed that an under-age voter had taken part in the poll.
But police stressed that the breach had no effect on the results for the seat, which was held by Tory Ben Wallace with a large majority.

Power to a flower

Britain's rarest wild flower is to be protected by extra police patrols and possibly even CCTV in an attempt to stop it being stolen when it flowers this month.

The Lady's Slipper orchid at Silverdale Golf Course in Carnfoth, Lancashire, is the last remaining flowering plant in the country. Cuttings from the plant can be sold to collectors for up to £5,000.

Although experts have tried to re-introduce the purple and yellow bloom in other areas, none of them have flowered.

Lancashire Police is now mounting a three-pronged defence of the flower amid concerns thieves may strike in May or June when the plant flowers.

Officers have been ordered to 'ensure the safety' of the orchid by including it in their routine foot patrols, meaning they will pass it every hour or so. Police will also tag the 100-year-old orchid with a coded security mark so that anyone who tries to sell a cutting to wildflower collectors can be caught.The orchid has been given a unique log number on the police computer system - which will alert the duty officer whenever a report concerning the flower is received.  The force is also considering spending thousands of pounds on CCTV cameras to keep a 24-hour watch on the orchid, which is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

PC Tony Marsh, beat manager for the area, told Police Review: "We will be doing passing patrols, putting up deterrent notices, warning people about the offences and (asking them) to report any suspicious activity."

Last June a thief took a cutting from the plant, leaving it with just six flowers, and in 2004 a collector tried to dig up the entire plant by its roots, but managed to get away with just a part of the plant.

PC Marsh added: "The biggest threat is collectors. When flowers were taken last year, we think purely just to press and put in a book, the value on the crime report was thousands of pounds." PC Marsh has even circled the rare orchid with police crime scene tape in a bid to deter potential thieves.

PC Duncan Thomas, wildlife officer for Lancashire Constabulary, said the orchid - whose Latin name is Cypripedium calceolus - was "incredibly important". He said: "The Lady Slipper orchid is an incredibly important plant, having survived for over a hundred years when all other plants were thought extinct. It is iconic to many people who enjoy wildlife in Britain. People travel from all ends of the country on what is almost a pilgrimage to view the plant in bloom and are often overcome with emotion at the sight.We have been monitoring this amazing plant for a number of years and you can't help being impressed by not only its rarity but the incredible display when flowering. Sadly there are persons who will seek to steal it and as such we are working with Natural England staff to ensure its continued success."

Rob Petley-Jones, of English Nature, said: "It is completely illegal to even touch this plant, you would need a special licence for it."