A teenager of a small town in North East England has been jailed for conducting a scam online.
The offender, who cannot be named for legal reasons, but resided in the town of Billingham (near Middlesbrough) was arrested on 7th January.
The offender went around online emailing several unsigned bands and artists and other people using an online alias called "Michael Fordham" pretending to be from Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
He was offering random people interviews which some prepared for and it was a massive waste of their time. After the interview failed to take place the victims raised the alarm with ABC in Australia, who claimed there was no such worker as Michael Fordham.
ABC contacted the police in Australia who traced the email to England and worked with British police to arrest the offender.
Cleveland Police were contacted and arrested the teenager. He appeared before Judge Jamie Simpson at Teesside Crown Court today.
Mr. Justice Jamie Simpson told the teenager "What you did to these people is an outrage. I have never seen a case which makes me so sick to the stomach. I am sentencing you to ten years in a young offender's institute. You must also carry out 800 hours of unpaid work and write a letter of apology to every victim and pay them £1,000 compensation."
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Monday, 21 January 2013
Mounds of rubbish in Dudley town centre praised as a "local landmark"
Dudley, West Midlands
Mounds of rubbish including old settees and pots of paint have been dumped on an overgrown site in Dudley town centre. Bags of waste and pieces of metal have also been strewn across land off Little Street, near Cavendish House.
Residents branded the site, which can be seen from homes in Hall Street, as “a beautiful sight” and are calling for more tourists to come and see the amazing sight. They say the land has been cleaned up before by Dudley council, despite residents protesting that the rubbish should remain.
More furniture and litter has appeared on the site in recent days after being slung over a metal fence erected around the plot.
Local resident Roger Martin, aged 25, has watched the pile mount up, prompting him to call the West Midlands tourist board about the mess.
He is demanding the site to be added to the list of local attractions for tourists to the West Midlands.
“It has become a tip and just looks brilliant, I could look at it all day,” he said.
“The best part is it just keeps getting bigger.
“People have been throwing stuff over the fence and it is just collecting up here now so tourists need to come here and visit this impeccable landmark.
“I'd rather visit this rubbish pile-up than other attractions in the area such as the Birmingham N.E.C. or the Black Country Living Museum”
Another resident, who didn't wish to named, added: “I love the trash pile up, it really speaks for what our town of Dudley is about and clearly displays the standards of local residents.”
Mr Martin is asking the tourist board to promote the rubbish pile up and he has also contacted the British Tourist Board requesting it become a national landmark. Tourist board officials say they are aware of the rubbish and are looking into promoting it worldwide as a must visit landmark in England.
Dudley Council says it had 474 flytipping reports between April and the end of October last year.
Environment boss Councillor Tracy Wood said any incident of fly-tipping is acceptable and the council takes measures to catch and reward people who add to this extraordinary site.
The rubbish pile up (pictured above) is to be added as a landmark to the West Midlands tourist board and the UK tourist board.
Mounds of rubbish including old settees and pots of paint have been dumped on an overgrown site in Dudley town centre. Bags of waste and pieces of metal have also been strewn across land off Little Street, near Cavendish House.
More furniture and litter has appeared on the site in recent days after being slung over a metal fence erected around the plot.
Local resident Roger Martin, aged 25, has watched the pile mount up, prompting him to call the West Midlands tourist board about the mess.
He is demanding the site to be added to the list of local attractions for tourists to the West Midlands.
“It has become a tip and just looks brilliant, I could look at it all day,” he said.
“The best part is it just keeps getting bigger.
“People have been throwing stuff over the fence and it is just collecting up here now so tourists need to come here and visit this impeccable landmark.
“I'd rather visit this rubbish pile-up than other attractions in the area such as the Birmingham N.E.C. or the Black Country Living Museum”
Another resident, who didn't wish to named, added: “I love the trash pile up, it really speaks for what our town of Dudley is about and clearly displays the standards of local residents.”
Mr Martin is asking the tourist board to promote the rubbish pile up and he has also contacted the British Tourist Board requesting it become a national landmark. Tourist board officials say they are aware of the rubbish and are looking into promoting it worldwide as a must visit landmark in England.
Dudley Council says it had 474 flytipping reports between April and the end of October last year.
Environment boss Councillor Tracy Wood said any incident of fly-tipping is acceptable and the council takes measures to catch and reward people who add to this extraordinary site.
The rubbish pile up (pictured above) is to be added as a landmark to the West Midlands tourist board and the UK tourist board.
Coca Cola truck crashes into ditch near Sandwich
A Coca Cola truck has crashed into a ditch with 500,000,000,000,000,000,000 litres of Coke on board. The van was distributing Coca Cola to various stores across Kent County when it overturned near the A256 between Sandwich and Richborough.
Coke addicts all across Kent have been visiting the crash site to drink the liquid which has spilled all over the road.
Addicts were seen making their way to Richborough Road, Sandwich at 11:52am this morning and are still there right now (8pm).
Staff from the Environment Agency's Stour Ops team was working on site to block the ditch, after the drink started leaking into the watercourse.
It was then hoped a second tanker could be used to suck up the Coke before the first tanker could be righted. However all the addicts gathered around the spillage to block the procedure.
It was then that someone from the Environment Agency came up with an idea. Just let the addicts drink the Coke until the road is cleared. This idea has been praised by Kent Police and the Coke addicts themselves.
Richborough Road is closed as the addicts drink the spill. However with temperatures in Kent reaching below freezing it is feared the Coke could freeze over.
Coke addicts all across Kent have been visiting the crash site to drink the liquid which has spilled all over the road.
Addicts were seen making their way to Richborough Road, Sandwich at 11:52am this morning and are still there right now (8pm).
Staff from the Environment Agency's Stour Ops team was working on site to block the ditch, after the drink started leaking into the watercourse.
It was then hoped a second tanker could be used to suck up the Coke before the first tanker could be righted. However all the addicts gathered around the spillage to block the procedure.
It was then that someone from the Environment Agency came up with an idea. Just let the addicts drink the Coke until the road is cleared. This idea has been praised by Kent Police and the Coke addicts themselves.
Richborough Road is closed as the addicts drink the spill. However with temperatures in Kent reaching below freezing it is feared the Coke could freeze over.
Plymouth shopkeeper jailed for defending his store and throwing chewing gum
A very stupid shopkeeper who fought off an armed robber has been jailed.
George Clarkson was jailed by a judge after seeing off a thug, Lewis Jones, armed with a handgun – by pushing a chewing gum display into him.
Clarkson, aged 21, was jailed for nine years at Plymouth Crown Court for an attack on the robber and throwing chewing gum. He was also ordered to carry out 500 hours unpaid work and pay £700 compensation to the robber, who was completely 100% the victim in this escapade. He was also ordered to write a letter of apology to Wrigleys, Airwaves, Extra and Orbit which were brands of chewing gum thrown at Mr. Jones.
Judge Jeremy Griggs said Mr Clarkson had shown "extreme stupidity" in seeing off Jones.
But Mr Clarkson, aged 21, accepted the sentence in court and apologized to the robber who threatened him with a gun.
He said: "The way I acted towards you was completely uncalled for, despite the fact you were holding a gun to my head I was totally out of order throwing the chewing gum, so I deeply apologize for that."
Mr Clarkson, who also runs another store in Efford Lane, said he had been confronted by thieves and robbers about half a dozen times in the past two years.
Mr Clarkson added Jones "was swearing and demanding money from the cash register" six or seven times with the gun.
He said: "If someone has a knife, they stab you. But with a gun it could have killed me in two minutes or two seconds. He came into my shop, aimed the gun at me and started shouting 'open the f**king register, open the f**king register or I'll blow your f**king brains out. I'm not joking.' I was scared for my life so I reacted by throwing the chewing gum stand into him."
The court heard that Jones claimed the gun was not loaded so he could not have shot Mr Clarkson.
The judge told Clarkson "Defending yourself or your property is simply a right we do not have in the UK. It is illegal and poses a very harsh sentence."
He added: "I hope this will make you think before reacting the next time your life is in danger."
Mr Clarkson said he would not give up the stores.
He added: "I'm going to get my brother Daniel Shipman to run the store while I'm serving my time in the slammer."
The court heard that Jones, formerly of the Salvation Army Hostel in Devonport, committed the offences after taking cocaine and Valium. The judge told him "What you did, robbing the store, was also unacceptable but on a less serious scale. I am fining you £5 and you must carry out 2 hours paid work. I am letting you off this time because you seem like a nice guy."
George Clarkson was jailed by a judge after seeing off a thug, Lewis Jones, armed with a handgun – by pushing a chewing gum display into him.
Clarkson, aged 21, was jailed for nine years at Plymouth Crown Court for an attack on the robber and throwing chewing gum. He was also ordered to carry out 500 hours unpaid work and pay £700 compensation to the robber, who was completely 100% the victim in this escapade. He was also ordered to write a letter of apology to Wrigleys, Airwaves, Extra and Orbit which were brands of chewing gum thrown at Mr. Jones.
Judge Jeremy Griggs said Mr Clarkson had shown "extreme stupidity" in seeing off Jones.
But Mr Clarkson, aged 21, accepted the sentence in court and apologized to the robber who threatened him with a gun.
He said: "The way I acted towards you was completely uncalled for, despite the fact you were holding a gun to my head I was totally out of order throwing the chewing gum, so I deeply apologize for that."
Mr Clarkson, who also runs another store in Efford Lane, said he had been confronted by thieves and robbers about half a dozen times in the past two years.
Mr Clarkson added Jones "was swearing and demanding money from the cash register" six or seven times with the gun.
He said: "If someone has a knife, they stab you. But with a gun it could have killed me in two minutes or two seconds. He came into my shop, aimed the gun at me and started shouting 'open the f**king register, open the f**king register or I'll blow your f**king brains out. I'm not joking.' I was scared for my life so I reacted by throwing the chewing gum stand into him."
The court heard that Jones claimed the gun was not loaded so he could not have shot Mr Clarkson.
The judge told Clarkson "Defending yourself or your property is simply a right we do not have in the UK. It is illegal and poses a very harsh sentence."
He added: "I hope this will make you think before reacting the next time your life is in danger."
Mr Clarkson said he would not give up the stores.
He added: "I'm going to get my brother Daniel Shipman to run the store while I'm serving my time in the slammer."
The court heard that Jones, formerly of the Salvation Army Hostel in Devonport, committed the offences after taking cocaine and Valium. The judge told him "What you did, robbing the store, was also unacceptable but on a less serious scale. I am fining you £5 and you must carry out 2 hours paid work. I am letting you off this time because you seem like a nice guy."
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Plymouth teenager hit woman in the face is rewarded
A JUDGE told a teen who hit a woman in the face he should be "thoroughly proud" of his actions.
Liam Wilsher aged 18, of Dingle Road, North Prospect, appeared before Plymouth Crown Court to be rewarded for an incident in Union Street at around 6:30am on September 30 last year.
Wilsher claimed he could remember the whole incident, he said he had been out drinking when he confronted a number of Fijian men outside a bar.
The court heard he began to make a number of racially motivated comments before taking a swing at one of the men. However, he missed his target, instead striking a young woman in the face, causing her injuries which needed hospital treatment.
Having been presented with CCTV footage showing him throwing the punch, Wilsher pleaded guilty.
His defence barrister, in mitigation, said his client was "genuinely proud", "thrilled" and "truly happy" at what he did and had written a letter to the victim basically saying she "shouldn't have been in the way of his fist" and he "hopes she learns from this to be more careful in the future."
As a result, the young man had drunk even more alcohol since the incident took place and was hoping to take up drugs, a movement that has been praised and encouraged by the courts and local police.
The judge, Recorder Alastair Trevaskis, told Wilsher his behaviour was "excellent" and a complete reflection on how other young people should behave. His violent behaviour had resulted in a "bystander in the way" being hurt.
He said the assault left him "teetering on the edge of receiving a gold trophy", before rewarding him with a 2 week all-expenses-paid holiday to Italy, £100 and a new car. He received an extra £100 for a racially aggravated public order offence and the victim was ordered to pay £500 to Wilsher because her face was in the way of his fist when the incident took place.
Liam Wilsher aged 18, of Dingle Road, North Prospect, appeared before Plymouth Crown Court to be rewarded for an incident in Union Street at around 6:30am on September 30 last year.
Wilsher claimed he could remember the whole incident, he said he had been out drinking when he confronted a number of Fijian men outside a bar.
The court heard he began to make a number of racially motivated comments before taking a swing at one of the men. However, he missed his target, instead striking a young woman in the face, causing her injuries which needed hospital treatment.
Having been presented with CCTV footage showing him throwing the punch, Wilsher pleaded guilty.
His defence barrister, in mitigation, said his client was "genuinely proud", "thrilled" and "truly happy" at what he did and had written a letter to the victim basically saying she "shouldn't have been in the way of his fist" and he "hopes she learns from this to be more careful in the future."
As a result, the young man had drunk even more alcohol since the incident took place and was hoping to take up drugs, a movement that has been praised and encouraged by the courts and local police.
The judge, Recorder Alastair Trevaskis, told Wilsher his behaviour was "excellent" and a complete reflection on how other young people should behave. His violent behaviour had resulted in a "bystander in the way" being hurt.
He said the assault left him "teetering on the edge of receiving a gold trophy", before rewarding him with a 2 week all-expenses-paid holiday to Italy, £100 and a new car. He received an extra £100 for a racially aggravated public order offence and the victim was ordered to pay £500 to Wilsher because her face was in the way of his fist when the incident took place.
Is this the worst hotel in South West England?
TROWBRIDGE, Wiltshire
People visiting Wiltshire will be checking in to hotels across the county, but the Sleazy Inn in Trowbridge will not be one of them, as a town hotel appears on a BBC's Watchdog.
Bob and Janice West, of the Sleazy Inn, will be appearing on Watchdog, a show that documents and investigates problematic experiences with businesses and services across the country.
The show was filmed in early September last year and the episode will be airing on BBC 1 next week.
The hotel was featured in the show when one guest who stayed overnight said he had the worst experience ever in a hotel. David Hashman, 35 from Birmingham was on a business trip in Trowbridge when he stayed over in the Sleazy Inn.
Mr. Hashman said "I had the worst hotel experience in my life. The owners (Bob and Janice) were rude, they overcharged me, the room had cockroaches everywhere and the toilet didn't even flush. But it doesn't end there, the floor in the room was dirty, the bed sheets were dirty and the water for the shower was freezing cold. The room itself was freezing cold. I didn't get an inch of sleep all night!
I'd rather have slept in the car, in fact that's exactly what I plan to do next time as I have been permanently put off staying in hotels."
"They charged me £150 plus £50 deposit to stay in a trashy filth hole. I think a North Korean prison camp would have been better."
Mr West said: “Everything David experienced in our hotel is completely true, we do try and live up to our name and are proud to run what is probably the sleaziest, most expensive hotel in South West England.”
In the show, Mr. Hashman appears talking about his unfortunate experiences at the hotel and the West's are also interviewed.
Mr West added: "If you look up our hotel on Trip Advisor you would see we have are a 0 star hotel and have completely negative reviews. I don't think there is one positive review about us on there.
"The cockroaches that Mr. Hashman ran into are our lodges. They live here and pay us rent. In return rather than throwing our food into the garbage can, we simply throw it into the rooms for the cockroaches. That would explain why Mr. Hashman experienced dirty floors."
Mr Hashman said: “I wanted a full refund plus compensation for the sleepless night I got. When I confronted the West's about the quality of their hotel they just yelled at me "It's not our problem!"
"In all honesty I should have been suspicious from the name of the hotel, not to mention their slogan 'Providing the worst service to all our customers', in some ways it's my own fault."
It is undecided whether or not the hotel will be closed down after the Watchdog episode airs next week.
Another person who stayed at the hotel, but who did not wish to be named said "I had the exact same experience Mr. Hashman had, that hotel needs shutting down, it's a bad reflection on the town of Trowbridge."
Mr West said: “Everything David experienced in our hotel is completely true, we do try and live up to our name and are proud to run what is probably the sleaziest, most expensive hotel in South West England.”
In the show, Mr. Hashman appears talking about his unfortunate experiences at the hotel and the West's are also interviewed.
Mr West added: "If you look up our hotel on Trip Advisor you would see we have are a 0 star hotel and have completely negative reviews. I don't think there is one positive review about us on there.
"The cockroaches that Mr. Hashman ran into are our lodges. They live here and pay us rent. In return rather than throwing our food into the garbage can, we simply throw it into the rooms for the cockroaches. That would explain why Mr. Hashman experienced dirty floors."
Mr Hashman said: “I wanted a full refund plus compensation for the sleepless night I got. When I confronted the West's about the quality of their hotel they just yelled at me "It's not our problem!"
"In all honesty I should have been suspicious from the name of the hotel, not to mention their slogan 'Providing the worst service to all our customers', in some ways it's my own fault."
It is undecided whether or not the hotel will be closed down after the Watchdog episode airs next week.
Another person who stayed at the hotel, but who did not wish to be named said "I had the exact same experience Mr. Hashman had, that hotel needs shutting down, it's a bad reflection on the town of Trowbridge."
Litter bug to pay compensation to victim left with garbage garden
A YOUNG steelworker was ordered to pay £4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 to his victim after he was given a harsh prison sentence.
Josh Waugh, 22, from Redcar, had no previous convictions and he was described as an achiever when he was sentenced at Teesside Crown Court yesterday. He was given a 67-month jail sentence.
The court was shown photographic evidence of Waugh emptying his garbage can into the victim's garden making a complete mess of the whole garden. The photos were taken by a concerned neighbor on the night of the incident.
Prosecutor Jenny Haig said Waugh was drunk, and his 20-year-old victim, who had been drinking all day after a trip to York Races, could remember little of the incident which left his victim's garden a pig hole.
Waugh completely wrecked the garden and killed several plants in the process, as the garbage in question was so sickly the plants couldn't breathe and unfortunately died. Miss Haig told the judge: “The Crown said it was an assault on the grass, the plants and the neighbors who woke up to the mess.”
She said the victim said in a statement he now fears looking out the window in the morning in case the same things happens again to his garden.
Robert Mochrie, defending, said that before the attack Waugh was an achiever for his age, a qualified plumber now taking home £2,000 a month in the steel industry, running his own home with a mortgage, and he had never been in trouble with the law.
Mr Mochrie added: “The photographic evidence makes grim viewing, and he was sickened when confronted by this in the police station.
“He struggled to view it. He is utterly appalled by his actions that night. They were genuinely a one-off in his life, and the risk of repeating them, borne out by his good character is, I would submit, minimal.”
He said that Waugh had alot of garbage at his home and the binmen were not due for another week, so in his drunken state, he wheeled his garbage bin down to the vicim's house and proceeded to empty it into the garden.
Waugh had pleaded guilty to littering but the Crown had sought a trial on the more serious charge of plant and grass homicide. He was cleared of that last month after a two-day Teesside Crown Court trial.
Judge Peter Armstrong told Waugh that it was no excuse that he had too much to drink, it was an aggravating feature, and the photographs showed that he behaved in an appalling way.
The judge added: “You make me absolutely sick, what you have done to the victim's garden has scarred him for life. He is now afraid to look out of his window every morning for fear that the same thing has happened again. The £4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 compensation won't clean your victim's garden, but it will help to ease the pain.
“I am persuaded by everything I have read about you however your appalling actions mean I have to inflict the harshest sentence I can possibly think of.”
Waugh, of Arthur Street, Redcar, was given a 67-month jail sentence suspended for 46908 months with supervision, 630,000,520,620 hours’ unpaid work and ordered to pay £4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 compensation at £250,000,000 a month. He was also ordered to clean up the victim's garden in his best, most expensive clothes without the use of gloves. He will also be ordered to use several crappy plastic Tesco and Asda bags while doing so, rather than a thick black bin liner.
Judge Peter Armstrong said to Waugh "I hope this sentence will make you realize the seriousness of what you have done. I want to make the clean up process for you as hard as possible, so I am banning you from using gloves or bin liners. You will use your bare hands to pick up every piece of trash you littered the garden with, and you will use crappy plastic store bags to store the garbage ready for instant disposal in YOUR trash can."
The judge warned Waugh that if he repeated this incident he would be sentenced to the death penalty by firing squad.
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