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Surreal news articles

Do we still get this problem with naked trainspotters in train drivers cabins?
I know it used to be a thing, I have seen a few (very, very sad) photographs.
 
www.bbc.co.uk

Hull pre-school withdraws book showing man in 'leather fetish gear'

Hull parent Will Taylor pulled his daughter out of Genesis Pre-School after learning of the book.
www.bbc.co.uk

Hull pre-school withdraws book showing man in 'leather fetish gear'​

​

​

A nursery has withdrawn a book about a grandad and his memories of attending Pride marches with his partner.
Hull parent Will Taylor criticised Genesis Pre-School for allowing access to Grandad's Pride, which he said showed a man in "leather fetish gear"
Click to expand...

Wow. That's definitely something
 
MattyH said:
www.bbc.co.uk

Hull pre-school withdraws book showing man in 'leather fetish gear'

Hull parent Will Taylor pulled his daughter out of Genesis Pre-School after learning of the book.
www.bbc.co.uk



Wow. That's definitely something
Click to expand...
I heard this story; this is the picture most parents were up in arms about:

1692866290336.jpeg
(From Gransnet: https://www.gransnet.com/forums/news_and_politics/1327028--Grandad-s-Pride-Really#prettyPhoto)

Shame really because I think a lot of parents would be on board with the book's message, just not the over-sexualised imagery.

I sort of love that someone tried it though!
 
Porthmadog: Swan has motorists honking by causing traffic jam

1000009852.jpg

A swan caused a large lunchtime traffic jam in north Wales as it attempted to re-join its family following a trip into town.

The bird set off across The Cob, an embankment in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, that carries the main A497 road across the Glaslyn estuary.

Traffic had to stop as the swan waddled along the road, escorted by a bus for part of its journey. Motorists tried to shoo it back into the estuary, but were left waiting.

Alison Statham, who runs a B&B in nearby Talybont, said she got stuck in the queue during a shopping trip into town. "The traffic ground to a halt, and then we realised everyone was having to negotiate their way around a large white bird standing in the carriageway," she said.

Read more here:
www.bbc.co.uk

Porthmadog: Swan has motorists honking by causing traffic jam

Swan waddles down main road as it tries to re-join its family following a trip to town.
www.bbc.co.uk
 
www.mirror.co.uk

Woman ends romance with rollercoaster to marry new ride - and has 'baby' with

Gaëlle Engel, 46, revealed she had ended her seven year relationship with ‘boyfriend’ Sky Scream, a rollercoaster at Holiday Park in Hassloch, Germany after she said park authorities would no longer allow her on site
www.mirror.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk
So many questions
How do you marry an amusement ride?
Why would you marry an amusement ride?
How do you dump a rollercoaster?
How do you have a distance relationship with an amusement ride?
How do you have children with an amusement ride?
And on a more realistic note:
What on earth did she do to get banned from Holiday Park?!
 
Thameslink Rail said:
www.mirror.co.uk

Woman ends romance with rollercoaster to marry new ride - and has 'baby' with

Gaëlle Engel, 46, revealed she had ended her seven year relationship with ‘boyfriend’ Sky Scream, a rollercoaster at Holiday Park in Hassloch, Germany after she said park authorities would no longer allow her on site
www.mirror.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk
So many questions
How do you marry an amusement ride?
Why would you marry an amusement ride?
How do you dump a rollercoaster?
How do you have a distance relationship with an amusement ride?
How do you have children with an amusement ride?
And on a more realistic note:
What on earth did she do to get banned from Holiday Park?!
Click to expand...
My burning question is how can she have such awful taste in rollercoasters?
 
Nazi uniform wearing group chased from 1940s festival in Norfolk.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-66856678

Just imagine that, one minute you’re admiring steam trains or having fun at a tea dance to a bit of swing and the next thing you know there’s a bunch of weirdos in SS uniforms goose-stepping down the street. Fortunately the festival organisers and police got rid of these nutters very swiftly.
 
Happens quite often at forties festivals, I remember a similar fuss on the east lancs railway event some years ago...
"Oh, we meant no offence, just adding to the theatre" was the cobblers excuse.
 
Hmmm, good luck with that haha.

As an interesting aside, and something that I found interesting. I was reading a bit of that 'Secret Barrister' book recently and he brought up the point of why seemingly obviously guilty people sometimes plead not guilty at trial until pretty much the end and then plead guilty right at the last minute (often putting victims through the torment of a trial). The author gave some real world examples and told of how basically a fair few trials can be thrown out of court simply due to technicalities like witness statements not being officially gathered in time to be presented in court, witnesses not turning up in court to give evidence after agreeing to (for whatever reason), evidence going missing and other similar things. Apparently people will often try their luck until the last minute in the hope that the prosecution could not present all of the evidence to the court in the way that they had anticipated and therefore the case gets thrown out or the actual evidence presented in court is not strong enough to provide a conviction (even when for all intents and purposes in the real world it's clear for all to see that the defendent is guilty). An alarming number of people have gotten away with obvious crimes just because the justice system is so strapped for cash that somewhere along the line formalities don't get completed properly in order to put evidence before a court in due time. I found it interesting and will remember this whenever I see people who are seemingly obviously guilty initially plead not guilty. It's almost like it's worth a try, and then just plead guilty near the end to get any possible reduction on your sentence when you've seen that all of the evidence was indeed actually put forward to the court.

I can't see it working in such a high profile case as the above though when too many eyes are watching :tearsofjoy:
 
BarryZola said:
Hmmm, good luck with that haha.

As an interesting aside, and something that I found interesting. I was reading a bit of that 'Secret Barrister' book recently and he brought up the point of why seemingly obviously guilty people sometimes plead not guilty at trial until pretty much the end and then plead guilty right at the last minute (often putting victims through the torment of a trial). The author gave some real world examples and told of how basically a fair few trials can be thrown out of court simply due to technicalities like witness statements not being officially gathered in time to be presented in court, witnesses not turning up in court to give evidence after agreeing to (for whatever reason), evidence going missing and other similar things. Apparently people will often try their luck until the last minute in the hope that the prosecution could not present all of the evidence to the court in the way that they had anticipated and therefore the case gets thrown out or the actual evidence presented in court is not strong enough to provide a conviction (even when for all intents and purposes in the real world it's clear for all to see that the defendent is guilty). An alarming number of people have gotten away with obvious crimes just because the justice system is so strapped for cash that somewhere along the line formalities don't get completed properly in order to put evidence before a court in due time. I found it interesting and will remember this whenever I see people who are seemingly obviously guilty initially plead not guilty. It's almost like it's worth a try, and then just plead guilty near the end to get any possible reduction on your sentence when you've seen that all of the evidence was indeed actually put forward to the court.

I can't see it working in such a high profile case as the above though when too many eyes are watching :tearsofjoy:
Click to expand...

The Secret Barrister’s books are all excellent. Thoroughly recommended reading.
 
BarryZola said:
Apparently people will often try their luck until the last minute in the hope that the prosecution could not present all of the evidence to the court in the way that they had anticipated and therefore the case gets thrown out or the actual evidence presented in court is not strong enough to provide a conviction (even when for all intents and purposes in the real world it's clear for all to see that the defendent is guilty). An alarming number of people have gotten away with obvious crimes just because the justice system is so strapped for cash that somewhere along the line formalities don't get completed properly in order to put evidence before a court in due time. I found it interesting and will remember this whenever I see people who are seemingly obviously guilty initially plead not guilty. It's almost like it's worth a try, and then just plead guilty near the end to get any possible reduction on your sentence when you've seen that all of the evidence was indeed actually put forward to the court.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm. From a career in the world if criminal justice, this feels like a fairly crass over simplification of the processes involved.

Yes, people will roll the dice on a solid guilty case hoping for some NFA or miss trial on a technicality, but that is not without significant risk. There can be some huge repercussions in sentencing for not pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity. I recently had involvement with a nasty job where the defendant went no comment in police interview but pleaded guilty on the first day of trial. Judge decided that amounted to not pleading at the earliest opportunity and added 25% to their tariff. I found this highly amusing.

Also worth considering that one man's 'technicality' is another man's point of law or procedure that genuinely undermines the case or evidence in such a way that makes a conviction unsafe. The burden of proof is a high one for good reason.
 
Fair comment. I can only summise that some people aren't that bothered about an extra 25% versus a small chance of getting off completely. You'll know the type. In and out of prison frequenty.
 
Chess Grandmaster denies using sex toy to cheat in match.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66921563

Chess Grandmaster Hans Neimann has been talking to Piers Morgan about the cheating row he has been caught up in. The choice quote from this BBC article is as follows:

“To be clear, on the specific allegation - have you ever used anal beads while playing chess?" Morgan asked.

 
Thameslink Rail said:
www.mirror.co.uk

Woman ends romance with rollercoaster to marry new ride - and has 'baby' with

Gaëlle Engel, 46, revealed she had ended her seven year relationship with ‘boyfriend’ Sky Scream, a rollercoaster at Holiday Park in Hassloch, Germany after she said park authorities would no longer allow her on site
www.mirror.co.uk www.mirror.co.uk
So many questions
How do you marry an amusement ride?
Why would you marry an amusement ride?
How do you dump a rollercoaster?
How do you have a distance relationship with an amusement ride?
How do you have children with an amusement ride?
And on a more realistic note:
What on earth did she do to get banned from Holiday Park?!
Click to expand...
Reminds me of this from years ago


From: https://youtu.be/vXgN-gKEazo?si=s-7qcgPfSX5vTOvQ
 
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