The "And in other news..." thread

[Peter Mugridge]

I have to admit that I was totally unaware of this event until reading this post. You've made my weekend!

If you didn't know it was those two celebrities, that picture could easily be Clouseau with Maria Gambetti....

 

[D6130]

If you didn't know it was those two celebrities, that picture could easily be Clouseau with Maria Gambetti....

Indeed they could!

 

[High Dyke]

BBC News - Runaway bull forces Burnopfield cricket match to be abandoned - BBC News

Runaway bull forces Burnopfield cricket match to be abandoned

The bull's owner brought along a cow to entice it off the Burnopfield playing grounds to no avail.

www.bbc.co.uk

A cricket match had to be abandoned after a runaway bull stormed the playing field and charged at players.

The North East Premier League fixture at Burnopfield Cricket Club was called off on Saturday evening despite efforts to remove the animal from the ground.

Seemingly, it wouldn't moo-ve on.

 

[D6130]

BBC News - Runaway bull forces Burnopfield cricket match to be abandoned - BBC News

Runaway bull forces Burnopfield cricket match to be abandoned

The bull's owner brought along a cow to entice it off the Burnopfield playing grounds to no avail.

www.bbc.co.uk

Seemingly, it wouldn't moo-ve on.

The umpire declared that it was a no bull.

 

[JD2168]

BBC News - Runaway bull forces Burnopfield cricket match to be abandoned - BBC News

Runaway bull forces Burnopfield cricket match to be abandoned

The bull's owner brought along a cow to entice it off the Burnopfield playing grounds to no avail.

www.bbc.co.uk

Seemingly, it wouldn't moo-ve on.

Makes a change to rain stopped play

 

[MotCO]

The Daily Telegraph reports that road workers have painted over dead hedgehogs and other animals when painting white lines on the A59 near Preston. The paper includes some pictures, but for reasons of decency, I have chosen not to include them.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/10/council-workers-paint-white-lines-over-dead-hedgehogs/?recomm_id=8fc59e05-e5c4-4dc2-bc29-2c0159910537

​

At least five creatures, including two hedgehogs and three pigeons, were left coated in white markings along a stretch of the A59 near Tarleton, near Preston.
Lancashire county council, which was responsible for repainting the road-edge lines, has apologised for any “concern or upset” it has caused.
One motorist, who wished to remain anonymous, said he had seen one of the dead birds before the road was repainted and could scarcely believe the council workers had failed to remove it before carrying on with their job.

 

[Statto]

Pilot writes 'I'm bored' in sky during flight​

The airline said the pilot was testing the aircraft after a new part was fitted


A light aircraft pilot wrote "I'm bored" during a two-hour test flight - with his mischievous flight path appearing on an online tracking app.
The Ravenair plane took off from Liverpool at 11:30 BST on Saturday before flying around the Wirral peninsula, Cheshire and North Wales, according to flightradar24.
The airline said a flying instructor aged in his 20s had taken up the Piper Tomahawk for a test flight after a part was replaced on the plane, which landed back on Merseyside at 13:30 BST.
Operation manager Wayne Barrett said: "I think the pilot was literally a bit bored as it was just a test flight. Mind you it was pretty skillful flying."

The pilot's mischievous flight path was noticed by plane spotters on the flightradar24 tracking app
He added: "I think the part was a cylinder that needed replacing.
"So when this happens we take the plane up for a test run to make sure everything is OK, which it was.
"He was a bit bored but he probably had to concentrate a lot in the end to spell out the words so he was probably anything but.
"He's not in trouble but we have had a lot of attention from it.
"The plane is now safely back in the hangar and the pilot is on his day off."

Pilot writes 'I'm bored' in sky during flight from Liverpool

The pilot's mischievous flight path was noticed by plane spotters on the flightradar24 tracking app

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[GusB]

This could equally be posted in the "things that irritate you" thread.

Thames Valley Police ring van driver blocking emergency response

Officers on the M40 with blue lights flashing call a driver as he is not moving out of their way.

www.bbc.co.uk

Police ring van driver blocking emergency response​

Police officers who were on their way to an emergency were forced to call a van driver who was blocking their path on the motorway.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) officers were travelling along the M40 in Buckinghamshire when they were obstructed by an unaware van driver.
The officers said they had flashed their blue lights in an attempt to try and alert the driver but in the end resorted to calling him on the phone.
Following the incident on 24 June, the TVP Road Policing Facebook page said it was "a good reminder" for drivers on the motorway to move over when safe to do so, adding that they would "rather not have to give you a call".

What a twit.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

This could equally be posted in the "things that irritate you" thread.

Thames Valley Police ring van driver blocking emergency response

Officers on the M40 with blue lights flashing call a driver as he is not moving out of their way.

www.bbc.co.uk

What a twit.

I assume it was a company van the driver was the owner of and it had their number on the back.
That's a very funny way to ask someone to move out of the way, I wonder how much attention was being paid if no notice was taken of mirrors or anything, doesn't feel like someone I'd want on the motorway if they're hogging the right lane in a van and not even noticing police behind them.

 

[GusB]

I assume it was a company van the driver was the owner of and it had their number on the back.
That's a very funny way to ask someone to move out of the way, I wonder how much attention was being paid if no notice was taken of mirrors or anything, doesn't feel like someone I'd want on the motorway if they're hogging the right lane in a van and not even noticing police behind them.

Yes, that's how they got the number. The business details on the back of the van have been blurred out in the video - I assume that the police will have done this before making the clip public. I would have made sure that they were clearly visible for all to see!

It was all done in good humour, but I suspect that the driver would have been pulled over had the police not been responding to an emergency.

 

[Ediswan]

This could equally be posted in the "things that irritate you" thread.

Thames Valley Police ring van driver blocking emergency response

Officers on the M40 with blue lights flashing call a driver as he is not moving out of their way.

www.bbc.co.uk

What a twit.

I note the camera angle is such that it does not show why the police can't pass in a different lane.

 

[brad465]

You would think having had not one but TWO near-fatal accidents in his career that involved high-speed driving would make him learn not to speed:

Richard Hammond fined £999 after being caught speeding twice

The TV host is caught speeding twice in Herefordshire in the space of three weeks, magistrates hear.

www.bbc.co.uk

Former Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond has been fined £999 after being caught speeding twice in three weeks while driving luxury cars.

The 56-year-old was captured driving his Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo at 68mph in a 50mph limit on the A40 in Pencraig, Herefordshire on 2 December.

He was later clocked driving his Bentley Continental GT at 82mph in a 70mph limit on the M50 Rudhall Overbridge, also in Herefordshire, on 22 December.

Hammond pleaded guilty to two speeding charges through his solicitor. Two further charges that he had ignored the police letters and failed to identify himself as the guilty driver were withdrawn by police.

He was also given seven penalty points for his licence at the hearing last week.

Magistrate Ann Minton ordered him to pay a total of £1,771, comprising two fines of £333 and £666, £240 in costs and victim surcharges totalling £532.

 

[D6130]

You would think having had not one but TWO near-fatal accidents in his career that involved high-speed driving would make him learn not to speed:

Richard Hammond fined £999 after being caught speeding twice

The TV host is caught speeding twice in Herefordshire in the space of three weeks, magistrates hear.

www.bbc.co.uk

You just can't stop some people!

 

[AM9]

You just can't stop some people!

No mention of how many penalty points he was given, (or already had).

 

[dgl]

He got 7 points I understand.

 

[styles]

This is what happens when you ignore the notices of intended prosecution.

The 56-year-old was captured driving his Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo at 68mph in a 50mph limit on the A40 in Pencraig, Herefordshire on 2 December.

West Mercia Police's speed enforcement policy would've meant this would normally be dealt with as a fixed penalty notice for speeding (3 points, £100 fine).

He was later clocked driving his Bentley Continental GT at 82mph in a 70mph limit on the M50 Rudhall Overbridge, also in Herefordshire, on 22 December.

Their policy for this one would've meant it would normally be dealt with by offering a speed awareness course if eligible.

Not replying to their letters/request for driver details is likely the only or main reason they took it to court, where he's been fined 5x the amount and landed himself 7 points instead of 3 points and a 3 hour online course.

 

[Strathclyder]

This could equally be posted in the "things that irritate you" thread.

Thames Valley Police ring van driver blocking emergency response

Officers on the M40 with blue lights flashing call a driver as he is not moving out of their way.

www.bbc.co.uk

What a twit.

Utter and complete halfwit.

 

[JGurney]

I assume it was a company van the driver was the owner of and it had their number on the back.
That's a very funny way to ask someone to move out of the way, I wonder how much attention was being paid if no notice was taken of mirrors or anything, doesn't feel like someone I'd want on the motorway if they're hogging the right lane in a van and not even noticing police behind them.

Quite. Since they clearly had his details, I did wonder why he was not charged with driving without due care and attention.

 

[4COR]

This is what happens when you ignore the notices of intended prosecution.



West Mercia Police's speed enforcement policy would've meant this would normally be dealt with as a fixed penalty notice for speeding (3 points, £100 fine).



Their policy for this one would've meant it would normally be dealt with by offering a speed awareness course if eligible.

Not replying to their letters/request for driver details is likely the only or main reason they took it to court, where he's been fined 5x the amount and landed himself 7 points instead of 3 points and a 3 hour online course.

I've had similar to this - I got close passed/cut up on my bike commute and put the helmet cam video into Thames Valley Police.

The driver was recommended for a Driver Awareness Course (there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing to actually work out if they were insured...as it turned out, they happened to be on 3rd Party...). The driver failed to attend a course. Went back for prosecution, and the driver failed to attend court... They then were re-summoned and given a much heftier fine, 3 points for Driving Without Due Care, which totted up to 6 and because they were a recent pass, then got licence revoked with a retest required.

Some people are idiots.

 

[contrex]

A chap from Portcawl has got 2 years and four months in chokey. His mother died of natural causes and two days later he bought a chest freezer 'from AO.com' as the BBC helpfully tells us. Police did a welfare check at the request of her GP and found her frozen solid with flowers and a birthday card signed by the son and Tina the family dog. I think they mean he wrote Tina's name. He drew £78,000 in pensions and benefits over the three years. This is uncannily like the plot of a Welsh TV drama, 'Tree on a Hill', except that was funny and there is nothing funny about this real-life story.

Christopher Phillips kept mum's body in dining room freezer in Porthcawl for years 'couldn't let her go'

Christopher Phillips’ mother, Sylvia, had yellow and pink roses and a birthday card placed on her body.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Sun Chariot]

That's why mum's gone to ice land.

 

[GusB]

That's why mum's gone to ice land.

For goodness sake, Let it Go.

 

[Sun Chariot]

For goodness sake, Let it Go.

I had to think a moment for yours!

 

[Trackman]

From the BBC website as above:

Phillips had told doctors he "did not want to let her go" and "wanted more time" after her death.

Whatever....

Christopher Phillips received a total of £78,190.92 in state pension, pensions credit, attendance allowance, winter fuel payments, cost-of-living payments and housing benefit payments, which would have ceased had the death been reported.

I had to think a moment for yours!

I had to google it!

 

[styles]

I picked up on this bizarre story this morning of a Cambridge University professor who has been suspended following plagiarism allegations, some recent and some dating all the way back to his PhD at Liverpool John Moore University:

Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professor

Jason Arday was regarded as an academic superstar, but then questions about his work prompted scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism

www.theguardian.com

He alleges that this is all coming out because he has been critical of Cambridge's diversity, equality, and inclusion policies.

But when you dig into it, the plagiarism is the most sane thing about this guy.

He has claimed in media interviews to have raised £5m for charities over a 20-year period (sometimes this figure has risen to £5.5m). He has done this, he says, by running 30 marathons in 35 days – a feat he has spoken about in media interviews and in his book. He also claimed at public events to have run 600 miles in six days.

As his critics online have pointed out, £5m raised for charity would be a staggering amount for someone who is not already famous. In 2012, Arday said he hoped to raise £250,000 by the time he was 50.

When asked if the £5m figure was accurate, Arday clarified to the Guardian that the money was raised with the help of “many fundraising collectives over a two-decade period”. When asked to identify other people who took part in these efforts, Arday said he had signed NDAs preventing him from disclosing that information.

The Guardian also asked Arday about his claim to have run 600 miles in six days, an achievement that would make him one of the world’s most gifted endurance runners. (The first woman to achieve the feat, Megan Eckert, only managed it last year; the men’s record is 650 miles.) He said that because of the “cumulative wear and tear of training” from his previous running challenges he “had to put rest days in between the running days just to finish” the 600-mile challenge, which was actually completed over a 12-day period.

In a subsequent interview with the Guardian, Arday claimed to have been confronted at his faculty building on two separate occasions by a masked man threatening to harm him if he did not resign, and evading detection both times. On the second occasion Arday said the intruder produced a knife and threatened him with it.

The intruder was not picked up by CCTV on either occasion and no one in the faculty reported seeing anyone suspicious. Arday did not report either intrusion at the time, telling the Guardian that after the second incident he continued his working day and even conducted a PhD viva for a student less than two hours later.

He did not inform colleagues that a masked man with a knife was in the faculty building.

Arday confirmed in an interview with the Guardian that the “mutilated animals sent to his family home” mentioned in the open letter was a severed pig’s head, delivered in a large cardboard box to his parents’ home address in south London. He claimed to have intercepted the package and immediately thrown it away, only telling the police several months later.

In a subsequent interview he claimed the police investigated, checking with butchers in south London if they had sold a pig, eventually finding one that had sold a “whole hog” on the morning the head was left outside the family home.

When the Guardian checked those details with the local butchers Arday named, they said no police officer had come in to ask them about a pig. When asked if they were sure, the butcher said “that’s the kind of thing we’d remember”.

When the details Arday gave about the pig’s head investigation were checked by London’s Metropolitan police, the Guardian was told they were “categorically” incorrect and no investigation had taken place.

Arday took no photographs of the bullet, the banana, the corrosive substance or the pig’s head. The only other people who saw any of the items were close family members, who told the Guardian Arday had shown them the bullet and the “poison”. Arday could produce no messages from the time in which he discussed any of the items with friends, family, colleagues or the police.

When Arday was asked about his claims by the Guardian, he stood by them. “To be honest with you, I thought you'd just believe me,” he said.

In recent days it emerges that he has claimed to:

• Have been on a TV programme called Seven Up, which was broadcast before he was even born and BBC confirmed he took no part in
• Been a visiting professor at Glasgow University, who have confirmed he wasn't
• Have been recruited to a premiership football team, but won't say which one
• Have completed the 30 marathons in 35 days with a fractured leg
• To have had a panic button installed in his office at Cambridge, then it didn't work when he tried to use it

Part of me wonders if he was an 'authorised user' of the panic button.

 

[MotCO]

I picked up on this bizarre story this morning of a Cambridge University professor who has been suspended following plagiarism allegations, some recent and some dating all the way back to his PhD at Liverpool John Moore University:

Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professor

Jason Arday was regarded as an academic superstar, but then questions about his work prompted scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism

www.theguardian.com

He alleges that this is all coming out because he has been critical of Cambridge's diversity, equality, and inclusion policies.

But when you dig into it, the plagiarism is the most sane thing about this guy.












In recent days it emerges that he has claimed to:

• Have been on a TV programme called Seven Up, which was broadcast before he was even born and BBC confirmed he took no part in
• Been a visiting professor at Glasgow University, who have confirmed he wasn't
• Have been recruited to a premiership football team, but won't say which one
• Have completed the 30 marathons in 35 days with a fractured leg
• To have had a panic button installed in his office at Cambridge, then it didn't work when he tried to use it

Part of me wonders if he was an 'authorised user' of the panic button.

Walter Mitty, "Eat your heart out"

 

[EYFanatic]

That's why mum's gone to ice land.

Note to self: Don't read this whilst in the quiet coach... Nearly died of laughter

 

[Sun Chariot]

Note to self: Don't read this whilst in the quiet coach... Nearly died of laughter

I thank you

OT but I also do children's railway stories

AI-generated (not entirely realistic) railway images

I thought we should all be more positive about the abandonment of HS2. Here we see a potential parkrun created on the Colne Viaduct. Since this is not the realistic thread anymore, both cycle lanes go in the same direction. However, the decision of the cyclist in the image to go in the...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Purple Train]

OT but I also do children's railway stories

AI-generated (not entirely realistic) railway images

I thought we should all be more positive about the abandonment of HS2. Here we see a potential parkrun created on the Colne Viaduct. Since this is not the realistic thread anymore, both cycle lanes go in the same direction. However, the decision of the cyclist in the image to go in the...

www.railforums.co.uk

That's fantastic!

 

[Merle Haggard]

I picked up on this bizarre story this morning of a Cambridge University professor who has been suspended following plagiarism allegations, some recent and some dating all the way back to his PhD at Liverpool John Moore University:

Playbooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professor

Jason Arday was regarded as an academic superstar, but then questions about his work prompted scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism

www.theguardian.com

He alleges that this is all coming out because he has been critical of Cambridge's diversity, equality, and inclusion policies.

But when you dig into it, the plagiarism is the most sane thing about this guy.












In recent days it emerges that he has claimed to:

• Have been on a TV programme called Seven Up, which was broadcast before he was even born and BBC confirmed he took no part in
• Been a visiting professor at Glasgow University, who have confirmed he wasn't
• Have been recruited to a premiership football team, but won't say which one
• Have completed the 30 marathons in 35 days with a fractured leg
• To have had a panic button installed in his office at Cambridge, then it didn't work when he tried to use it

Part of me wonders if he was an 'authorised user' of the panic button.

I find it interesting that it would seem no-one on the interview panel (or however his appointment was chosen) asked for any details of support for the claims he made - they seem to be all taken as fact.
Contrast this with my own experience at B.R., when every modest claim of experience or knowledge on my vacancy application form was scrutinised forensically by the interview panel.