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January 2018


31 January 2018

Canada's Sandra Bennett, 65 died at her home in Nova Scotia on 20 December. Relatives arriving at Serenity Funeral Home in Berwick a week later for the wake found someone else's corpse in the casket, wearing Bennett's clothes. Bennett's sister, Carolyn Dominey, said that staff alerted to this initially insisted that the body only looked different but did eventually admit to making a mistake. Then they brought in another incorrect body. In the end, Dominey says, funeral parlour personnel determined that, in a mix-up, Bennett had been cremated, against the family's wishes. An investigation is under way.

High-profile Houston trial lawyer Anthony Buzbee invited 29-year-old court reporter Lindy Lou Layman to his mansion for a 'first date' late on Christmas Eve. The night ended less than ideally, with Buzbee alleging that Layman destroyed some of his sculptures and Andy Warhol paintings rather than leave in the Uber vehicle he had summoned to collect her. Ordered not to make contact with Buzbee outside the courtroom, Layman indicated that she has no wish to and that what really happened will emerge in court.
Buzbee's home previously hit the news in September, when he parked a World War II tank outside it, to the chagrin of the homeowners' association.

For a Norwegian man in his 40s, it was New Year's that proved memorable. The man, who had been drinking, ordered a taxi to take him back home to the Abildso neighbourhood of Oslo. Because he was in Copenhagen at the time, this involved racking up a cab bill worth around 2,000 euros. When the cab driver finally reached the man's home, he parked outside to wait for the man to fetch his money. Before long, the car battery went flat, and the cabbie rang the police.
Officers found the tipsy passenger asleep in bed, and he agreed to pay the bill when rousted out. They also summoned a recovery vehicle.

A dozen camels have been disqualified from a beauty pageant in Saudi Arabia. The camels are not being allowed to compete with about 30,000 others at the King Abulaziz Camel Festival because they have received Botox injections. Regular attendee Ali Al Mazrouei, 31, explains that 'they use Botox for the lips, the nose, the upper lips, the lower lips and even the jaw'. The injections to the jaw provide a 'more inflated' look, he explains.
A few days before this year's festival, a veterinarian was caught not only giving Botox injections to camels but also slicing their ears down to size, for a prize-winning 'delicate' look.

Police in Belfast, Maine, report on 27-year-old Brian Fogg, who ended up in a ditch while trying to negotiate a home's long, winding driveway after dropping off a friend. When police officer Lew Dyer IV came upon Fogg in the vehicle, he decided that a breathalyser test was in order. Fogg would have none of it, so he punched himself in the face three times. According to Sergeant Matthew Cook, this rendered the test impossible because blood in the mouth can lead to inaccurate readings. Officers tended to Fogg's injuries and then charged him with driving under the influence, falsifying physical evidence, and criminal mischief.

In reports from Germany, a non-disabled 49-year-old man in Dresden pulled into a parking place for disabled people, then reversed out when he noticed his error. In doing so, he ran into a 72-year-old man who had been walking past. The older man suffered only slight injuries, but the two exchanged information in order to file reports anyway. After this, the older man got into his own vehicle, which was parked nearby, and began backing out. He hit and slightly injured the 49-year-old in the process.
Perhaps so that an endless cycle wouldn't be established, the police were summoned at this point to collect the necessary details themselves.

Finally, we have one more story from the holidays. On New Year's Eve, someone rang the emergency services in Polk County, Florida, to report a drink-driver: himself. When the dispatcher asked the caller, Michael Lester, what he had been doing earlier, he offered: 'I don't know. Driving around, trying to get pulled over, actually.' As for his location, he replied 'I'm too drunk. I don't know where I'm at.' While officers headed toward his location, the dispatcher managed to persuade the methamphetamine-and-beer-addled Lester to park his truck. It was easy for officers to spot at least - parked in the middle of the road.


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