“My children have to appear in court,” Erica Russell, the mother of two eighth-grade girls who spent eight hours in jail, said Tuesday. “They were handcuffed, slammed in a wagon, had their mug shots taken and treated like real criminals.”

“They’re all scared,” Ms. Russell said of the two dozen arrested students. “You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn’t had a food fight?”

What do you guys think?  Link (Image from aggrotech’s Photobucket album)

Revd Howard Davenport said: “In situations like this you have to laugh really!

“We were obviously disappointed that the church had been targeted twice in a week, but when I heard that it hadn’t even been noticed I had to smile.

“You’d have thought that eight wannabe detectives might have noticed a real crime a few metres from them only hours earlier!”

Link -via Arbroath

Cannon would probably have got away with the crime had he not been charged with drug offences late last year, and asked to give a DNA sample – which matched that from the crime scene.

Detective Inspector Mick Johnston, who was involved in the police investigation from the start, said Cannon’s conviction validated the use of DNA technology.

“It’s a testament to DNA evidence and the legislation that allows us to keep such evidence in relation to unsolved crimes – this is a fantastic result,” he said.

Link -via Boing Boing

(image credit: BBC)

It seems he was going to sell the rare critters, but they have instead been given to local zoos.

Link Via Autoblog

Someone in Australia has robbed over $10,000 worth of cucumbers in eleven separate robberies over the last three months.The latest robbery of 50 bags of pickles is the largest of the heists so far.

“The issue with the cucumber is how do you and I tell who owns a different cucumber?,” SA Police Chief Inspector Kym Zander told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

“We’re having difficulty establishing where they (the cucumbers) are going.”

What do you think? How can they track down the cucumber thief?

Link Via Al Dente

Russell Neff has an ingenious homemade alarm system that costs him absolutely zero in monthly fees. You too can make one, if you only have a rotary phone …

He removed the receiver of his telephone and dialed all but one digit in his home telephone number. He then dialed the final digit, inserted a cork in the dial hole to keep the mechanism from returning and completing the connection.

Four strings were tied to the cork and strung at ankle level to different parts of the store.

At 2:15 a.m. Neff’s telephone roused him from a sound sleep. He lifted the receiver and heard noises, dressed and drove six blocks to a service station at Lexington and Larpenteur Avs., where he called police.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Minnesotastan.

Of course on the other hand that might just make them angry and want to tear up the place a bit, in addition to robbing you.

The anti-burglar mat will be on sale in Japan this fall. Link -via J-walk Blog

Photo via Duo de Hale [Flickr]

A man in Kenya found his dog had ate eaten his rent money. To get even, he brought his dog to the police station and ordered the police to arrest his dog. When they wouldn’t do it, he offered them a “fee” to get them to lock the dog up. The officers put the dog in jail and ended up getting fired for taking a bribe as a result. The dog was returned to his owner who now is trying to sell the pup and trying to figure out how to pay rent.

I’m somehow doubting the landlord will buy the old “my dog ate my rent money” story.

Link

Bangkok, Thailand, is turning into Gotham City with violence, fatalities, and social upheaval during the "red shirt" riots.

It seems that Batman has now come to the rescue, fighting crime and breaking tension in Bangkok. Although his alias is not Bruce Wayne, he steps up in the time of need for his country. See him in action in this YouTube clip. Go Batman!

Last week, as anti-government protesters clad in crimson stormed the capital’s streets, some guys hijacked a gas truck and parked it in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. They were pursued by soldiers and assumed (according to Thai media reports) that the military wouldn’t fire into an area containing a massive container of liquid fuel.

Then, out of nowhere, Batman steps into the crowd and surveys the scene.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by streetattack.

A look back at the most interesting court cases of the last 100 years.

During the 20th century, a so-called “trial of the century” occurred every few years, fueled by media sensationalism and a public thirst for juicy gossip, celebrity lifestyles or good old-fashioned revenge. Here are 20 trials that have, at one time or another, been deemed the indisputable “trial of the (20th) century.”

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by johnson.

Two economics professors (inoffensively named David and Daniel) at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania compared the first names of male juvenile delinquents to the first names of male juveniles in the population, and came up with a popularity name index (PNI) for each name.  They concluded that, regardless of race, boys with unpopular names are more likely to engage in criminal activity.

Their study was published in the January issue of Social Science Quarterly, and the publisher stated:

“adolescents with unpopular names may be more prone to crime because they are treated differently by their peers, making it more difficult for them to form relationships… Juveniles with unpopular names may also act out because they consciously or unconsciously dislike their names.”

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Marilyn Terrell.

If you do say or write a profane word, the act could be punishable by five years in jail or a $5,000 fine.

View the Bill Via WeirdStuffNews

If you enjoyed this, you may also like how the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi is trying to ban saggy pants.

Just over a year ago, Alan Ball went to a New Year’s Eve house party, drank heavily and fell asleep on a sofa.

At some point during the night, he got up, went upstairs and climbed into bed with an under-age girl, whom he kissed on the lips.

After a year in which this lorry-driving father lost his job and was able to see his five-year-old daughter only during supervised visits, a judge at Preston Crown Court this week cleared him of sexual assault after the 35-year-old claimed he was sleepwalking at the time of the incident and had no memory of the events.

Marcus Dunk of The Daily Mail has the story: Link

(Photo: Bruce Adams)

Link