Channel 4 News Young Blogger (Highly Commended)

We at the creaking, draught-ridden, woefully under-funded tellallthecats HQ are startled to announce that this blog has been nominated for the 1st Annual Blog.com Awards, in the ‘News and Magazines’ category.

The public vote is open until the 15th, so show some love and cast your vote:

our.blog.com/2011/12/28/blog-awards/

Published: Express, Mail, Sun

Police swooped on a couple’s home on suspicion of drug dealing after a sniffer dog mistook a legal garden plant – for cannabis:

Chris Vincent, 58, and his wife Anne, 57, were stunned when officers turned up at their home in a leafy Warwickshire village demanding access to their back garden. But officers apologised after they discovered the plant was not cannabis but a common evergreen creeper called ‘moss phlox’.

Since the couple moved into their house ten years ago, their garden has given off a powerful stench of cannabis. The smell became so strong two years ago that streams of teenagers began knocking on their door asking to buy drugs.

Bizarrely, the respectable couple even had the same teenager come round three times after “he refused to take no for an answer”. Chris said yesterday: “When we bought the house, the plant was already there – but then it grew and grew and grew.

“It didn’t look like marijuana, it just looked like a fern with lovely flowers. My wife’s a keen gardener but we didn’t know what it was – we just thought it was quite pretty.

“But local teenagers kept coming to the door saying, ‘Sorry mate we can smell ganja, you got any?’ – and I’d say no, I haven’t got anything. They were real hoodies – but also strangely polite, obviously thinking that I was some mean drug dealer.

“It’s happened loads of times over the past couple of years and most recently just a few weeks ago before the cops showed up. It’s unbelievable – I’ve never even smoked a joint in my life.”

Although moss phlox looks nothing like cannabis and grows vivid pink flowers in the spring, the plant gives off a similarly potent aroma. Police swooped on the Vincent’s four-bedroom, detached home in Bidford-on-Avon, Warks., three weeks ago after a drug dog “went berserk” on detecting the pungent odour.

One neighbour said: “Drug cops were crawling up and down the alleyway that borders their house. ‘They were peering over his fence and trying to take cuttings from the plant. A sniffer dog was there too, barking whenever it got close to their garden.

“It was bizarre – it was like being in a dodgy inner-city estate, not what you expect at all in rural Warwickshire.”

Officers explained to a dumbstruck Chris that the smell in the streets around his garden was unmistakably cannabis. They advised the couple to cut the plant down to prevent further confusion in the future. Although the plant is not illegal, Chris and his wife Anne – who works as a cashier at Nationwide – agreed to dispose of it at the local dump.

Chris added: “When the police came round, they said their sniffer dog went berserk when it approached our garden along the alleyway. They asked if we were having any trouble with local kids – and we said yes, we’re always having trouble with them.

“When the police saw the moss phlox, they knew exactly what it was – apparently an old lady who was growing it nearby got robbed a while back after criminals thought it was actually cannabis.

“Funnily enough we never really smelt its cannabis aroma before we dug it up, which is when it was really strong. We didn’t even really know what cannabis smelt like to be honest.”

Warwickshire Police confirmed they had requested Chris remove the plant.

(Jack Losh, SWNS)

Published: Daily Telegraph (front page), Sun (front page), Mail, Mirror

Parents are demanding a two-year-old girl – dubbed ‘Chucky’ after the evil toddler from the horror film series – be expelled after she battered a child at a nursery.

Three-year-old Katie Ann Guttridge, suffered scratches, a damaged eye socket and three bite marks on her face after the crazed tot attacked her during play time. Police were called in to investigate the assault but are powerless to act because the girl is below the age of criminal responsibility which is 10 in the UK.

Katie’s horrified parents are now demanding their daughter’s attacker is booted out of Ratby Pre-School Nursery in Leicester after the attack on December 13. Mum Clara Mackow, 28, a trainee goldsmith, said: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw her. I just cried.

“She had gashes to her lips and a terrible black eye. Katie looked like she had been in a fight with a dog that had mauled her. We had to take her to hospital because the doctor’s thought she had fractured her eye socket.

“She was almost blinded in the attack which was totally unprovoked. I know kids get into scrapes but my daughter was really hurt in this attack.”

The two-year-old girl – nicknamed ‘Chucky’ – has attacked ten other children since she started at the nursery in September. Clara, who also has a five-year-old son Joshua Guttridge, said: “The little girl is two but she has behavioural problems.

“The little girl who attacked her has a history of beating up other children. She’s out of control. I know ten other children have been assaulted by the girl since September. The staff at the nursery don’t seem able to cope with the difficult children.

“The girl is known as ‘Chucky’ from the horror film and she even looks a bit like her with short sticking up hair which is quite eerie. Ironically, the little girl’s mother is a child minder with close links to the nursery and school so the staff consider her one of their own and seem reluctant to discipline her.

“Nursery and pre-school should be fun and enjoyable but Katie is scared of going now and doesn’t even want to go outside in case she bumps into the girl who hurt her.”

Katie and the girl started at the pre-school and nursery, held in Ratby Village Hall, at the same time in September. Nursery incident reports show Katie has been attacked on four separate occasions by the same girl.

The nursery’s Accident/Injury form states that on September 22 the girl hit Katie on the forehead with a “plastic yellow drummer”. On October 11 the same girl “pushed two duplo bricks together pinching Katie’s left hand.”

On November 5 the same child “grabbed Katie’s hair and face and sucked her cheek causing a mark.” The incident was deemed so serious nursery managers sent a letter home to Katie’s parents explaining her injuries.

But the most serious attack happened on December 13 when the girl cornered Katie in the book area of the nursery. Nursery staff applied an ice pack to Katie’s face to reduce the swelling and called in her father Lewis Guttridge to collect her and take her to hospital.

Lewis, 32, a property developer and commercial landlord, said: “Katie is normally such a bubbly little girl but this seems to have frightened her and left her very nervous and scared to be around other children. I was horrified that my daughter has been exposed to such violence in a place which should be safe.

“I understand the police can’t do anything because of the girl’s age but the nursery should expel her.”

An injury form filled out by the nursery on the day of the attack stated: “Another child told me Katie was crying. I picked her up and noticed three bite marks to her face, her left eye, left jaw and left lip.”

Jill Bottrill, manager of Ratby Pre-school Nursery, said: “We are working closely with the local authority and parents and the pre-school.”

Leicestershire Police yesterday confirmed they had investigated the attack. A spokeswoman said: “We did get a report from the parents who came into the police station and said their daughter had been injured at a nursery by another child.

“The girl is below the age of criminal responsibility so there is nothing else the police can do. We suggested the parents contact the nursery and  other agencies.”

(Jack Losh, SWNS)

Published: Daily Telegraph (most viewed online article), Star, Sun

The world’s last surviving Sikh warrior master who has devoted his life to learning an ancient martial art is – from Wolverhampton, it was revealed yesterday.

Former factory worker Nidar Singh Nihang, 44, was trained in the mysterious art of Shastar Vidiya by an 80-year-old guru from northern India. Nidar has devoted his entire life to the ancient warrior culture and holds master-classes around the world.

But the father-of-four is now searching for a successor in order to pass the secrets of Shastar Vidiya to a new generation. Nidar is inviting potential candidates to learn the ancient martial art at his Midlands home in Wolverhampton.

He said: ”Shastar Vidiya is a part of my history and culture and without it we lose our character. It has changed history and produced great warriors – for it to die out now would be a tragedy.

”Throughout the day, no matter what I am doing, Shastar Vidiya is always in my mind. I am the last known remaining master – it is my mission in life now to find a successor to carry on this great martial art. If I die with it, it is all gone.”

Nidar conducts a rigorous daily routine, awakening at dawn to recite ancient mantras followed by seven hours of writing and study. After a late siesta listening to light classical Indian music, the expert swordsman embarks on six hours of martial yoga and Shastar Vidiya – before mediation and sleep at 2am.

The basis of Shastar Vidiya – the ‘science of weapons’ – is a five-step movement: advance on the opponent, hit his flank, deflect incoming blows, take a commanding position and strike. It was developed by Sikhs in the 17th century when their fledgling religion was coming under attack from hostile Muslims and Hindus.

The British forced Sikhs to give up arms in the 19th century after the first Anglo-Sikh War, which forced Shastar Vidiya underground. But the martial art was kept alive by a handful of people who covertly passed it down the generations.

Incredibly, the last remaining master of Shastar Vidiya was Mohinder Singh, who Nidar met in 1984 while working on his aunt’s farm in the remote village of Shadipur in the Indian Punjab.

Nidar added: ”The master was from the next village – he saw my physique and asked me if I wanted to learn Shastar Vidiya. He got me to attack him with a stick, but before I knew it I was on the floor.

”I thought it might be a fluke but I did it over and over again and each time he threw me around like a rag doll. I was awestruck because I was 17 and he was in his 80s.

”I stayed for 11 years, milking the buffalos in the morning and spending the remainder of the day training with my master and learning the philosophy. I then returned to Wolverhampton in 1995 to marry my wife Satinderjat.

”When my master Mohinder died later that year, I became the last Sikh warrior – now I am looking for someone to succeed me. I will teach them here in my home in the Midlands so they will have to travel here.”

Nidar gave up his day-job in a food factory in 2002 to become a full-time writer and teacher of Shastar Vidiya – instructing Muslims and Christians as well as Sikhs. He is now the ninth gurdev (teacher) of a classical school of learning established in 1661, called the ‘Baba Darbara Singh Shastar Vidoya Akhara’ – the last remnant of the warrior culture.

He lectures worldwide and teaches his pupils how to use swords, daggers and spears, most of which have killed real people in ancient battles.

Nidar said: ”Ninety-five per cent of our weapons are antiques, from as far back as the 16th century – they’ve all been passed down through various families. The weapons are not gaudy gold and silver – they are practical and powerful, real battlefield weapons.

”But I have never known any serious injuries, because we take more care with our very sharp weapons. The fighting is geared towards a lethal outcome, but it takes many years of training before students are allowed to handle a blade.”

(Jack Losh, SWNS)

Published: Daily Telegraph, Huffington Post, Mail, Mirror, Sun

A pregnant woman who suffered repeated miscarriages finally gave birth after lying upside down 24 hours-a-day – for nearly three months.

Donna Kelly, 29, suffers from a weak cervix which could have caused her unborn child to literally ‘fall out’. Ultrasound scans at five months showed the baby had dropped so far down it was just one inch from the top of her cervix.

So Donna was forced to lie in a hospital bed which was tilted at a 45 degree angle – with her head down and feet in the air – to reduce the pressure on her cervix. Under the supervision of Professor Siobhan Quenby, one of the world’s leading experts in recurrent miscarriages, Donna spent 24-hours-a-day in the bed at University Hospital in Coventry for ten weeks, only getting out to go to the toilet.

She had to eat, read and watch television while lying virtually upside-down. Donna, a former gynaecology nurse from Coventry, said: “I was surprised when she told me to lie in bed at a tilt but I was ready to give anything a try.

“It made me feel sick and I had a massive head rush at first but after a couple of days my body adjusted and I soon got used to it. I propped myself up with pillows and the barrier round the bed kept me from falling out.

“I’d even have to stay in the bed to eat by rolling onto my side, but I’d always have a dead arm by the end. It could be boring at times but I knew it wouldn’t be as painful as losing my baby.”

Donna had her first child Joshua four years ago but it is believed the natural birth caused a permanent weakness in her cervix. This caused her to miscarry in January 2009 at 23 weeks and again in May 2010 at 19 weeks.

For this pregnancy Donna was initially given cream containing the hormone progesterone to help strengthen the cervix and prevent infection. She also underwent a cervical stitch at 14 weeks to strengthen the neck of the womb but by 23 weeks the cervix had re-opened.

Donna said: “I thought history was repeating itself and I was devastated to think I was going to lose another baby. We were devastated – after the first miscarriage you think it’s just bad luck, but when it happens again you begin to suspect there is something seriously wrong.”

Prof Siobhan Quenby told Donna the only chance of preventing another miscarriage was to reduce the pressure on her cervix by lying upside down. Donna said: “Mark and I had a calendar and we’d cross off each day – the way I saw it, one day more in bed hopefully meant one day less in special care for the baby if she arrived too prematurely.

“The hardest thing was spending so much time away from my four-year-old son Joshua – but three months away from him for the sake of giving him a sibling is worth it.”

Donna gave birth to baby Amelia – weighing 4lbs 15ozs – six weeks prematurely by emergency caesarean after her waters broke on August 22. The treasured tot spent two weeks in an incubator in intensive care before she was allowed home.

Donna and her husband Mark, 32, a Sky installation engineer, are now looking forward to their first Christmas together as a family. She said: “I am of course thrilled to have Amelia – but there will always be a place in my heart for the babies I never knew.

“Josh dotes on her and is a very affectionate older brother. The other day he was playing when he said: ‘Mummy, I love being a big brother’ – for me that makes it all worthwhile. Professor Quenby was wonderful and so dedicated – I can’t praise her enough.”

Professor Quenby, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, said: “Donna’s condition is rare – second trimester miscarriages only occur in about 0.5 per cent of women – and while the treatment may sound strange, it is very effective.

“We are currently undertaking research at University Hospital to replace this with something more pleasant for the patient which doesn’t rely on them staying in hospital.”

(Jack Losh, SWNS)

A disgraced police inspector stabbed his wife and seven-year-old daughter to death before killing himself just days after he was sacked from the force, it emerged yesterday.

Inspector Tobias Day, 37, butchered his family after a row at the family’s semi-detached home in Melton Mowbray, Leics., on Thursday afternoon. He attacked his family with a knife, killing his wife Samantha, 38, a nursery nurse, and their seven-year-old daughter Genevieve before taking his own life.

Day’s other children, Kimberly, 15, and son Adam, 13, managed to scramble to safety and raise the alarm at nearby Swallowdale Primary School.

Armed police rushed to the house on Robin Crescent in Melton Mowbray, just after 4.30pm. Officers used battering rams to force their way into the house and discovered Day, Samantha and Genevieve suffering from stab wounds. All three died soon after of their injuries.

Kimberly, who had been due to perform in a school pantomime that evening, and her brother Adam were rushed to the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham with life-threatening injuries. The killings come just days after Day was sacked from Leicestershire Police following a disciplinary hearing.

Day, known as Toby, had been inspector for Beaumont Leys Local Policing Unit (LPU) since April last year and just months ago had boasted about cutting violent crime.

On his April diary update on the force’s website he wrote: ”I am extremely pleased to inform you that your policing team at Beaumont Leys LPU have made some exceptional achievements during the last 12 months in tackling and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.

”We have reduced overall crime by a phenomenal 20.4 per cent (this equates to 1,539 fewer victims) – this makes Beaumont Leys the best performing LPU in the force!”

Day had been commended for his bravery in the line of duty and had won repeated bravery awards. In 2001 he twice took on thieves and detained them single-handedly despite being stabbed in the hand with a screwdriver.

He also ran the London Marathon to raise money for a female colleague who was stabbed to death by her partner.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission was yesterday investigating the killings. Last week Day was dismissed by the force after a disciplinary hearing. It is understood he had been on suspension for several weeks and had been replaced by inspector Kev Morris.

Neighbours of the Days’ yesterday expressed shock at the killings. Clive Danton, a Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator for the area, described ”frightening” scenes of armed police and ambulances.

He said: ”I saw the first armed response vehicle arrive some time after 5pm and then another shortly after. I heard an officer shouting ‘hold back’ to them.

”Next were two ambulances. I watched them take a stretcher into a house on Robin Crescent and as it was brought out I could hear screaming. There were also one or two dog units.

”Most of them left at about 6.45pm and by 9pm there were only scene of crime officers left, although people in Robin Crescent were being asked to stay in their homes.”

Another neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: ”I knew the family because my daughter went to the same dancing school as Kim. Sam was a really lovely person and so was Toby – they both seemed really nice people.

”There’s some families you can see this happening to, but not them – they just seemed normal like anybody else. It’s hit the community hard – it’s just so tragic, we don’t know what to make of it.

”I still haven’t worked out what’s best – if the two surviving kids make it through or die. It’s just the most horrific way to lose both your parents.”

Leicestershire Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the killings. A spokesman said: ”Police received a report at about 4.23pm that a 15-year-old girl had been injured in the Melton area. The victim was taken to hospital.

”During the initial investigation police attended an address in Melton and forced entry to the house and discovered two children and two adults with injuries. A man, a woman and a child from the address have since died.

”Two children are being treated at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham for serious injuries. We are in the initial stages of the investigation, but at this stage we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

”The house has been cordoned off to allow for a forensic examination. Post-mortem examinations are due to take place at a later stage.”

(Jack Losh, SWNS)

A woman stunned police in America when she admitted killing her 67-year-old friend and hiding her body – under a pile of Christmas presents.

Patty White, 40, beat and strangled Michele O’Dowd after breaking into her apartment in Jacksonville, Florida, last Friday. She stole the victim’s bank card before shoving her body under a pile of Christmas presents.

White fled 370 miles to her home in South Carolina and withdrew $1,000 (£635) from the dead woman’s bank account. Michele’s body was found the next day by her twin brother Phil Axt who went looking for her after she failed to turn up for work.

Phil spotted his sister’s foot sticking out from a pile of Christmas gifts in the corner of the room. She was arrested after being spotted by cops the day after the killing.

White was taken to a station where police claim she confessed the murder and robbery to detectives. She has been jailed on fugitive charges and is expected to be extradited to Florida where she will face murder charges.

A spokesman for Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said: “Whatever took place in that apartment went horribly wrong and she ended up beating and killing her.”

(Jack Losh, SWNS)

Published: Daily Mail, Express, Telegraph

Britain’s luckiest turkey has been saved from the chop this Christmas after falling in love with – a DEER.

Plucky bird Tinsel was rescued after she was thrown on to the motorway from a moving lorry. She was nursed back to health and has now fallen head over claws for a rescued Roe Deer called Bramble.

The pair were brought to the Nuneaton and Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary and are now ”inseparable”. Tinsel even gives Bramble a ”peck” on the cheek before they go to sleep at night.

Sanctuary owner Geoff Grewcock, 61, said: ”They are completely inseparable. Both of them live in the same barn and Tinsel always gives Bramble a little peck on the cheek before they go to sleep. It’s very sweet.

”We’ve grown very attached to Tinsel. She must be one of the luckiest turkey’s in Britain because she’s not going anywhere near any dinner plate this Christmas.”

Tinsel was rescued by a driver nine months ago after she was hurled out of a lorry on the M6 motorway near Manchester.

Grandfather-of-one Geoff said: ”We didn’t think she was going to make it. Her feathers were badly damaged and she was malnourished but we fed her up and looked after her.

”She took an instant shine to Bramble and he seems to like the attention. They walk around the animal sanctuary together, eat together and even have the odd tiff.

”But Tinsel is very protective and squawks and flaps her wings if anyone goes anywhere near Bramble.”

Bramble was just two weeks old when he was found by walkers unconscious in a field in 2008. Geoff added: ”Bramble was very poorly when he came to us but after three years he’s back to full health. ‘Her close bond with Tinsel has certainly helped his recovery.”

Published: Have I Got News For You, Daily Mail, Metro, Sun

An Army veteran was disgusted when he tucked into a Tesco yoghurt and found – a rotten tooth.

David Casey, 43, was enjoying his favourite dessert in front of the TV when he bit into something hard. He spat it into his hand and was shocked to discover it was a front molar – complete with a filling.

Father-of-one David put the yellowed tooth in a sandwich bag and drove to his local Tesco store to complain. But they only offered to refund the 68p he paid for the Tesco Finest Devonshire Style Fudge Yoghurt.

David, from Bedworth, Warks., said: “I bit down on what I thought was a piece of fudge. Straight away when I saw it, it looked like a tooth – it even had fillings as well. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.

“When I saw it was a tooth I almost threw up. Tesco refunded me the money for the yoghurt and said they would send it back for further analysis. They’ve said sorry for the inconvenience but it’s not inconvenient – it’s disgusting.

“I could have someone’s scabby tooth in my stomach right now and that would not have been nice.”

Tesco twice sent David a £15 voucher as an apology which he refused to accept, branding it “an insult”. David, who served as a corporal in the Royal Infantry in Kosovo, picked up the yoghurt from the branch at Coventry’s Arena Park shopping centre on September 24.

He was eating the treat in front of the TV that evening when he made the gruesome discovery. David, who now works as a lorry driver, had just completed a gruelling course of chemotherapy for a stomach tumour.

He added: “I’ve just completed nine weeks of chemo and I can’t even afford to go swimming or anything in case I catch a cold. I’ve had to stay overnight in hospital when they thought I was coming down with something because my immune system is down.

“To have someone else’s tooth in me right now would be the worst thing in the world to have going on. If the tooth had been infected I could have gone down with something life-threatening. Tesco don’t seem to care about it at all. They’ve offered me vouchers but I wouldn’t shop there again if you paid me.”

Tesco yesterday confirmed they were investigating the incident. A spokesman said: “We take matters of this kind very seriously and we are looking into it.”

British archaeologists are preparing to explore an ancient kingdom lost in the desert sands of war-torn Libya:

Satellite images have uncovered an advanced Saharan civilisation in Libya’s south-western wastelands that experts believe will ”re-write the history of the country”. The ”highly civilised” kingdom was ruled by a north African people called the Garamantes, who imported luxury goods and thrived for 600 years until about 600AD.

The fall of Gaddafi’s regime has paved the way for archaeologists to explore the massive 250,000-square-mile site. A team of explorers have already discovered over 100 qsurs (castles), fortified towns and villages, as well as sophisticated underground irrigation channels

Professor David Mattingly, an expert of Roman Archaeology at the University of Leicester, said: ”It is like someone coming to England and suddenly discovering all the medieval castles. These settlements had been unremarked and unrecorded under the Gaddafi regime.

”It is a new start for Libya’s antiquities service and a chance for the Libyan people to engage with their own long-suppressed history. The Garamantes were highly civilised, living in large-scale fortified settlements, predominantly as oasis farmers.

”It was an organised state with towns and villages, a written language and state of the art technologies. They were pioneers in establishing oases and opening up Trans-Saharan trade.”

Libya’s curriculum under Gaddafi ignored the history of this highly-skilled black African culture which existed before Islam. But now the British archaeologists – who had to flee when civil war broke out – believe the dictator’s death will allow Libyans to learn about their long-forgotten past.

During the Nato air war against Gaddafi, Professor Mattingly even supplied military chiefs with the coordinates of key archaeological sites in order protect them from bomb damage. He added: ”These represent the first towns in Libya that weren’t the colonial imposition of Mediterranean people such as the Greeks and Romans.

”The Garamantes should be central to what Libyan school children learn about their history and heritage. I would love to get back before the end of the year – this site is unbelievably special and I have many Libyan friends I have been concerned about.

”We will have to see have conditions progress over the coming weeks.”

Amazingly, the Garamantes – portrayed by the Romans as barbaric, troublemaking nomads – were the first civilisation in history to transform a major riverless desert into a complex urban society.

Their desert culture flourished by using underground water extraction tunnels – known as ‘foggara’ in the Berber language. The construction of these tunnels was highly labour-intensive, requiring huge numbers of slaves.

It is estimated that the Garamantes extracted around 30 billion gallons of water from their subterranean tunnels. But the water started to run out in the 4th century, forcing them to dig deeper – as well as import more slaves than their military power could successfully deliver.

The archaeological team have already identified mud brick remains of castle-like complexes, with walls standing up to 4m high. There are also traces of domestic dwellings, cemeteries, wells, fields, sophisticated irrigation systems and remnants of their own alphabet related to modern-day Touareg script.

Dr Martin Sterry, who was responsible for image analysis, said: ”Satellite imagery has given us the ability to cover a large region. The evidence suggests that the climate has not changed over the years and we can see that this inhospitable landscape with zero rainfall was once very densely built up and cultivated.

”These are quite exceptional ancient landscapes, both in terms of the range of features and the quality of preservation. It was an organised state with towns and villages, a written language and state-of-the-art technologies.”

The Libyan antiquities department, badly under-resourced by Gaddafi, is closely involved with the project. The team has also received funding from the Leverhulme Trust, the Society for Libyan Studies, the GeoEye Foundation and £2.5m from the European Research Council.