September 2001

Son who patted father until his death had 'pure' motives
Friday, September 28, 2001
A Japanese cult member convicted of causing his father's death will not go to jail because a judge considered his motives "pure". Read the full story...

Dog is star of darts team
Friday, September 28, 2001
A Wales pub's darts team star member is a dog called Jack. Read the full story...

Politically correct Three Little Pigs has a wolf who wants to make friends
Friday, September 28, 2001
A New Zealand theatre's politically-correct Three Little Pigs features a wolf that just wants to make friends. Read the full story...

Olympic champion beaten to record by cartoon
Friday, September 28, 2001
The women's Olympic marathon champion will be trying to live up to her comic book character who has just broken the world record. Read the full story...

Fisherman admits killing divers with explosives
Friday, September 28, 2001
A Croatian man admitted accidentally killing German divers with landmines he was using for fishing. Read the full story...

Bogus monk passes off naked accomplice as ghost
Thursday, September 27, 2001
A Thai conman used a near-naked accomplice to make people think he'd summoned a ghost. Read the full story...

Couple kiss for 39 hours to mark Bob Marley's death
Thursday, September 27, 2001
A Colombian couple have kissed each other non-stop for nearly 39 hours. Read the full story...

Cult leader kept mummified body for months
Thursday, September 27, 2001
Tokyo prosecutors are seeking a 15-year-prison term for a cult leader who kept a mummified corpse for months in a hotel room. Read the full story...

Charles Bronson wants to perform with Scottish punk band
Thursday, September 27, 2001
Charles Bronson wants to perform with a Scottish punk band if he is released from prison on parole in four years' time. Read the full story...

Former official renames dog after foreign minister
Thursday, September 27, 2001
A Zambian minister has named his dog after a former Cabinet colleague, after he was told to collect it from his vacated residence.
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Man fined for revealing wife's affair on shop's neon sign
Thursday, September 27, 2001
A French man has been fined for putting up a neon sign outside his pet shop to highlight his wife's affair. Read the full story...

Women accused of fraud over rat-filled burrito claims
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
Two women face insurance fraud charges, after claiming they found a rat in a burrito. Read the full story...

No Blades' reference was a joke, says boss
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
The Sheffield Wednesday supporting boss of a firm whose job advert informed Sheffield United fans they need not apply says he was joking.
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Skateboarder breaks arm escaping egg hurlers
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
A young Manchester skateboarder broke his arm as he escaped supermarket staff throwing eggs at him.
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Basketball star 'caught speeding in Sexual Chocolate'
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
Basketball star Dennis Rodman has been accused of speeding through a California harbour in his boat Sexual Chocolate. Read the full story...

Tax office produces its own rock to sweeten image
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
Dentists have condemned tax officials for handing out sticks of rock to sweeten its image. Read the full story...

Mad dies after seeing ex-wife in porn film
Wednesday, September 19, 2001
A Romanian man is reported to have suffered a fatal heart attack while watching his ex-wife in a porn film. Read the full story...

Taxi flattend CIA's spy-cat project
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
The CIA trained 'spy-cats' to secretly gather information on suspects, declassified secret documents have revealed. Read the full story...

Ghouls grab souvenir rubble
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
Police have had to stop people taking ghoulish souvenirs from the lorries of rubble being driven out of Manhattan. Read the full story...

Mum does 900-mile round trip to deliver Game Boy to her son
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
A mum did a 900-mile round trip because her 11-year-old son had forgotten to take his Game Boy on a school trip. Read the full story...

Desperate farmer sold winning lottery ticket
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
A Thai farmer desperate for cash sold his lottery tickets only to discover his numbers came up. Read the full story...

Would-be robber gives cashier name and address
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
A would-be US bank robber was arrested after handing his name and address along with a stick-up note to a cashier. Read the full story...

Vibrating fields could confuse hungry caterpillars
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
Farmers may be able to stop caterpillars from munching on their crops by vibrating the entire field. Read the full story...

Elephant dies of overeating
Monday, September 17, 2001
A 35-year-old elephant has died of overeating in India. Read the full story...

Drunken elk causes traffic chaos
Monday, September 17, 2001
A drunken elk staggering across a main road caused traffic chaos in Sweden. Read the full story...

Police flush out thief from sewer pipe
Monday, September 17, 2001
A thief on the run from police hid in a sewer pipe and had to be literally flushed out with water. Read the full story...

Mirrors make horses happy
Monday, September 17, 2001
Horses are happier and more relaxed if mirrors are fitted inside their stables.
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Police stop new driver less than a mile into first journey
Monday, September 17, 2001
A Belgian teenager has been caught speeding after driving less than a mile with his new licence.
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Married vicar suspended over affair claims
Monday, September 17, 2001
A married vicar has been suspended after being accused in the middle of a church service of having an affair with a parishioner's wife. Read the full story...

Man's farting conviction overturned
Friday, September 14, 2001
An Australian man who broke wind in the foyer of a Melbourne police station has had his conviction for offensive behaviour overturned. Read the full story...

Teacher fakes family deaths to go driving
Friday, September 14, 2001
A Japanese teacher has been suspended for pretending relatives had died so he could take time off to go driving. Read the full story...

Shark feeding could be banned in Florida
Friday, September 14, 2001
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has voted to ban shark feeding in Florida waters. Read the full story...

Flight turns back twice because toilets won't flush
Friday, September 14, 2001
Holidaymakers were delayed for more than a day after their flight was aborted twice because the toilets wouldn't flush. Read the full story...

Fan has not missed a match for 81 years
Friday, September 14, 2001
A football mad pensioner who has not missed a Stirling Albion match for 81 years will watch his 3,000th game today. Read the full story...

Man jailed for threatening checkout girl with vibrator
Friday, September 14, 2001
A Swedish man has been jailed for threatening a supermarket checkout girl with a vibrator. Read the full story...

Sick hoaxers post bogus survivors on web lists
Friday, September 14, 2001
Hoaxers have maliciously posted names of missing people on a website and claimed they survived the World Trade Centre attack. Read the full story...

'Thief' rescued from drowning in toilet
Thursday, September 13, 2001
A suspected thief has been rescued after he fell into a cesspit while trying to escape. Read the full story...

'I killed him because he left the toilet seat up'
Thursday, September 13, 2001
Egyptian police claim a farmer has confessed to killing his younger brother because he always left the toilet seat up. Read the full story...

Hamsters hold up multi-million car plant
Thursday, September 13, 2001
Car giants Daimler Chrysler are spending thousands to catch and relocate a hamster colony holding up a £7 million car centre. Read the full story...

World's biggest sandalwood tree stolen
Thursday, September 13, 2001
More than 100 armed robbers have axed and stolen a sandalwood tree believed to be the world's biggest. Read the full story...

Fire breather goes up in flames during hospital show
Thursday, September 13, 2001
A fire breather accidentally set his lacquered hair ablaze while performing a show at a New Zealand hospital. Read the full story...

Foot fetish man strikes again
Thursday, September 13, 2001
Police in the US are hunting a man who accosted a woman - only to sniff her shoe. Read the full story...

Tourist arrested over camping cookies row
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
A US tourist has been arrested near Stockholm for eating a neighbouring camper's cookies. Read the full story...

Honeymooners trade blows in Thai boxing ring
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
A Leeds couple have spent their honeymoon dealing out blows in a Thai boxing championship. Read the full story...

Graffiti removal company made work for itself
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
A Swedish company which specialises in removing graffiti has admitted spray painting buildings to create work. Read the full story...

Squirrels hid in car for six weeks
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
A US woman who found a nest of squirrels under the bonnet of her car may have driven around with them for up to six weeks. Read the full story...

Car parking space put on market for £11,000
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
A man wants to sell his car parking space in Glasgow for £11,000. Read the full story...

Woman bites off man's thumb over taxi queue jumping
Wednesday, September 12, 2001
A German woman was so desperate to get home she bit off part of a man's thumb when he tried to take her taxi. Read the full story...

Burglar nabbed breaking into policewoman's house
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
An unlucky burglar is behind bars after he broke into a policewoman's flat. Read the full story...

Police crackdown on Tolkein fans
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
Police in Kazakhstan are cracking down on JRR Tolkien fans who they reportedly to regard as subversive. Read the full story...

Man stabbed teenager for killing computer character
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
A Singapore man has been jailed for stabbing a teenager who killed his character in a computer game. Read the full story...

Mayor charged with mowing under the influence
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
The mayor of a small US town in Kentucky has been arrested for mowing under the influence of drink. Read the full story...

Disabled man 'exposed himself on lawnmower'
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
A disabled man allegedly exposed himself to a neighbour and then tried to flee on his lawnmower. Read the full story...

Antelopes change colour after sex
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
Antelopes in an Indian zoo have changed colour after the mating season.
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Thieves smile for camera before stealing it
Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Norwegian thieves smashed an electronic store's window to steal a video camera not realising it was wired up to a separate recorder. Read the full story...

Bad spellers should search elsewhere
Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Jobseekers have misspelled the word secretary an amazing 15 times during searches of an online careers website. Read the full story...

Tourist passes off smuggled snake as fashion belt
Wednesday, September 5, 2001
A tourist has tried to smuggle an endangered snake into Scotland by wrapping it around her waist and pretending it was a belt. Read the full story...

Ram found in hotel lift
Wednesday, September 5, 2001
Police have been called to remove a ram from a hotel lift in New Zealand.
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Horse man was desperate and drunk
Wednesday, September 5, 2001
A New Zealand man committed indecent acts with horses because he was lonely and desperate, a court heard. Read the full story...

Exam board makes GCSE spelling mistakes
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
An examination board made two spelling mistakes in a letter to students about their GCSE English results. Read the full story...

Scholar claims Indian men got pregnant
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
A scholar claims to have evidence that men got pregnant in ancient India. Read the full story...

Boys hurt playing with dead snake
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
Two young boys have been badly burned while playing with a dead snake preserved in a bottle of methylated spirit. Read the full story...

Bungling blackmailer jailed for three years
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
A bungling blackmailer who tried to force a bank into handing over a £200,000 fortune has been sentenced to three years in prison. Read the full story...

Man auctions girlfriend for 3p
Tuesday, September 4, 2001
An Italian man is auctioning off his girlfriend online for the equivalent of three pence. Read the full story...

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