"This is a private matter"

After a short break Newsspeak is back and to kick-off proceedings Newsspeak brings it’s readers a story featuring some common themes; revenge, assault, false imprisonment and body parts. For the male readers out there, Newsspeak advises caution as this story, set in the good ol’ US of A, features a woman who tries to make mince meat out of her estranged husband’s private parts. Taken from the AP.
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A Southern California woman was jailed Wednesday after authorities said she drugged her estranged husband, tied him to a bed before cutting off his penis and put it through a garbage disposal.

Garden Grove police Lt. Jeff Nightengale said Catherine Kieu Becker drugged a meal and served it to the victim, whose name was not released, shortly before the attack Monday night.

Nightengale said the 51-year-old man felt sick, went to lie down and lost consciousness. The 48-year-old Becker then tied the victim's arms and legs to the bed with rope, removed his clothes and attacked him with a 10-inch kitchen knife as he awoke, Nightengale said.
"He was conscious when his penis was removed," Nightengale said.
Nightengale said Becker put the penis in the garbage disposal and turned it on.
The lieutenant said Becker called 911 to report a medical emergency and told arriving officers "he deserved it" before pointing to the room where the victim was found tied to the bed, bleeding profusely. Authorities did not release details on a possible motive in the attack.

A telephone listing for Becker's residence could not be located and no one was home in the apartment.

Nightengale said Becker was taken into custody without incident and refused to talk to officers further. He said the couple was in the process of a divorce.
Bail for Becker was set at $1 million after she was booked at the Orange County Jail for investigation of aggravated mayhem, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, administering a drug with intent to commit a felony, poisoning and spousal abuse.

She was due in court Wednesday.

The victim underwent surgery and was listed in good condition at the University of California at Irvine Medical Center in Orange, hospital spokesman John Murray told the Orange County Register.

The newspaper said the victim declined to comment when he was reached by phone Tuesday afternoon.

"This is a private matter," he said.

Neighbor Lourdes Painter told The Associated Press the couple had been married since December, did not have any children and seemed very quiet. Becker and her husband lived in a second-story condo in the working class complex. Painter lives in the unit below them.

Nightengale said a database search showed no previous calls to the house for any past problems. He didn't know what kind of food the couple ate for dinner. Detectives took the food as evidence and were analyzing it.

No private attorney was listed on booking documents. If Becker seeks a public defender, one could be appointed at her first court appearance.

In 1993, Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband's penis in Virginia and threw it out of her car window into a field on the side of the road. She claimed years of sexual abuse drove her to the attack, and she was acquitted by reason of insanity. His penis was later reattached.

Mystery Thriller from Hollywood

Hollywood; that alluring, almost magical place, where for years people across the globe have travelled to in search of fame, fortune or just to view the famous Hollywood sign. Now it seems people want to expand on this and have resorted to pinching Tinseltown related objects.

This news story taken form the LA Times is a nice little piece that contains tales of crime, intrigue and conspiracy within a small LA community. Perfect for NewsSpeak.
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First it was directional signs for tourists that vanished, and now 1923 bronze 'Hollywoodland' plaques marking the stone gateway to the community have disappeared. Theories abound.

Residents living on the narrow lanes beneath the Hollywood sign have quarreled for months over small directional signs pointing tourists to a place where the iconic Tinseltown symbol can be viewed and photographed.

The road signs benefited homeowners on the street that dead-ends at the locked fire road that leads to Mt. Lee and the Hollywood sign. Unfortunately, the signs funneled sightseers and tour buses onto other nearby streets. Then the signs mysteriously disappeared. Whether that's a crime depends on which street you live on.

But now real thieves have stolen two signs that nearly everyone in the hillside neighborhood mourns losing: the historic 1923 "Hollywoodland" bronze plaques that marked the stone gateway to the community.

"I was made aware of them being missing Saturday by a neighbor who wanted to show the plaques to a friend," said Jeff Meyer, owner of the nearby Hollywoodland Antiques shop and the caretaker of the gateway's clock.

On Tuesday, there were plenty of theories circulating at the north end of Beachwood Drive as to who may have taken the pair of 18-by-24-inch commemorative fixtures.

Tourists were at the top of the list, because the popularity of GPS devices has soared and droves of visitors are sent daily into Beachwood Canyon, thinking they can actually walk to the Hollywood sign.

Scrap metal scavengers were next, although many thought them unlikely suspects because lettered bronze markers are becoming harder to sell, despite a booming metals market.

Finally there were whispers that it might be one of the residents living beneath the Hollywood sign who is disgusted with the deluge of tourists that often clogs the neighborhood.

"Maybe it's an odd coincidence, but there's been an internal battle going on up here about signage. Maybe the controversy over that is behind this," Meyer said.

Authorities have no suspects, but people like Meyer are closely watching Craigslist and EBay to see if the two plaques pop up for sale.

Hollywood historian Greg Williams — whose family owns property in the Beachwood Canyon area — said he figures the plaques were swiped to be melted down. He said police would not take a report from residents over the weekend because the gateway is considered city property.

"My best guess is it was taken for salvage. Tourists don't usually go out with crowbars," and the Hollywoodland gate is not a traditional visitor attraction, Williams said.

"All the homeowners are upset," he said. "It's pretty despicable, but in this day and age anything is possible."

Sarajane Schwartz, president of the Hollywoodland Homeowners Assn., said the plaques' theft is only one example of lawlessness the neighborhood has recently experienced.

Anti-Semitic and anti-gay slurs were painted on a wall over the weekend, and the tourists' directional signs were taken. "And our homeowners association email was hijacked and illegal emails sent out," she said.

Schwartz was critical of what she described as efforts by the city "to designate our neighborhood as a tourism area. We're really mystified by that."

While her area has traditionally welcomed tourists, the onslaught of Hollywood sign searchers brought on by GPS devices is something "we can't manage anymore," she said.

The five directional signs pointing tourists away from Deronda Drive and toward another viewpoint were paid for by previous leaders of Schwartz's homeowners association and by another homeowner group: the competing Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Assn.

Since their disappearance in February, there has been conflicting speculation over who was responsible. Before the $1,500 tourist signs were removed, one was covered over with a plastic bag by a resident disgruntled over traffic in the area.

"These signs literally said, 'Come on in,' " said Schwartz, who has lived in the canyon more than 30 years. "We're not Disneyland. We're not a tourist attraction."

Rival Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Assn. President Fran Reichenbach speculated that the influx of tourists — "memento seekers" — might be to blame for the theft of the Hollywoodland plaques. She doubts that the plaques' disappearance is tied to the controversy over the directional signs.

Most residents support preservation of Hollywoodland's history, even if they are opposed to the wave of tourists, she said.

But Reichenbach said the tourists aren't going away. "They're here — it's a revenue stream that shouldn't be overlooked" for Los Angeles, she said.

So speculation continues and theories abound in Hollywoodland.

"I personally find it very suspicious the plaques were taken at this time when the two rival factions have taken down signs and are hiding them from each other," 31-year-resident Brian Van Zandt said.

"I miss them. They made you feel good when you walked past them and saw something historical smile back at you."

All Shook Up.

This story follows on from the previous one in the sense that it is also set in Birmingham, UK. This time it has a more international feel and the main subject is a worldwide iconic figure. It occurred within the dazzling world of an Elvis impersonator convention, where two Elvis lookalikes became involved in a love tussle. One lookalike is even facing up to the likelihood of experiencing the true ‘Jailhouse Rock’.
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AN ELVIS tribute singer has admitted attacking a rival impersonator he wrongly believed was trying to seduce his wife at a lookalikes convention in Birmingham.

Michael Cawthray, of Epperton Road South, Rhos-on-Sea, pleaded guilty to assaulting Jeffrey Burton, a US citizen, causing him actual bodily harm at Warwick Crown Court yesterday.

The 48-year-old victim suffered a suspected broken nose during a scuffle at the Metropole Hotel at the NEC in the early hours on January 9 last year.

He was treated in hospital.

At an earlier hearing, the court heard that Mr Burton persuaded Mr Cawthray’s wife Sioned to share a nigh-cap in his hotel room when Cawthray burst in.

Mr Burton’s father, James Burton, was Presley’s guitarist from 1969 until the star’s death in 1977.

Following his guilty plea a High Court judge told Cawthray, aged 43, that the court will want to consider a sentenced that will address his ‘insecurities arising from jealousy and ill-temper’.

The convention was organised by the Elvis European Championships Ltd, of which Cawthray is a director.

He and Mr Burton were both staying at the hotel.

After Cawthray had entered his plea, Mrs Justice Dame Julia Macur commented: “He has no previous convictions, but they were serious injuries.”

Regan Peggs, defending, pointed out: “It was a relatively small fracture to the nose, rather than what was first thought. Having said that, there will have to be a pre-sentence report.”

Adjourning for the report to be prepared, Mrs Justice Macur told Cawthray: “You are pleading guilty to a nasty assault, with injuries that are certainly not insignificant, although thankfully not as bad as first thought.

“I think the court will benefit from having a report on you.

“While I give no indication as to sentence, the court will want to consider whether there is any community sentence which can address your insecurities arising from jealousies and ill-temper.”

"I've been a bit weird."

As regular NewsSpeak readers will know, this blog mainly provides news stories that take place outside the UK and covers a vast range of international sources. NewsSpeak came across the following story on Austrian based site 9News, and it features a man from Birmingham, UK.

This story is just too good to pass on and it is nice to know that the UK has more than it’s fair share of ‘weird’ stories.
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A English man has tried to take pictures of women in a shopping mall toilet disguised as a mannequin.

University of Birmingham student Joel Hardman was caught trying to secretly film women on his mobile phone, the Birmingham Mail reports.

The 22-year-old from Edgbaston was seen sneaking into the women's toilets "dressed like a mannequin with a mask and a wig" earlier this month.

When security guards nabbed him after he emerged from the locked cubicle, Hardman admitted to performing a sexual act and said: "I've been a bit weird."

He also told police he found the sound of women on the toilet sexually exciting and said: "It's good you've caught me — maybe now I'll stop."

Police found three images of women's feet taken beneath cubicle doors on his mobile phone, and an audio recording of a flushing toilet, the court was told.

Hardman told Birmingham Magistrates' Court he felt "sexual gratification out of everything that goes on in women's toilets".

When asked to explain his outfit, he said he wore the clothes to a fancy dress party and then tried it out at the shopping mall.

Hardman confessed he had done it before in the women’s toilets at a university campus, but moved to the shopping centre because it was busier.

The student was released on bail on the condition he stayed away from public toilets.

District Judge Lesley Mottram said Hardman could face jail time because of the "aggressive nature" of the crime and the case is adjourned until May 10.

Amateur horror filmmaker takes his work a little too far…

There is an ongoing debate regarding horror films and the influence they have over viewer’s actions. Many experts are divided over the issue and NewsSpeak takes the view that of course the human mind is susceptible to outside influences including fiction, however, the actions of oneself is entirely one’s own.

The following news story set in Canada focuses on a trial of a man who has admitted to killing someone in 2008. The defendant was trying to make a horror film based on a previous film and claims the murder was accidental. Have a read and form your own opinions; if you click on the link above you will find content related to the story.
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An amateur filmmaker admitted Wednesday he lured a total stranger to a garage, knifed him to death, cut up the body and dumped it down a sewer, but he said it was all done in self-defence when a movie publicity stunt went wrong.

“I started thinking to myself, ‘How could I have been so stupid?’” Mark Twitchell told jurors at his first-degree murder trial. “All the precautions I took, but you just can’t predict human behaviour.”

Mr. Twitchell, 31, is charged in the death of Johnny Altinger on Oct. 10, 2008. He has pleaded not guilty.

The Crown has argued that Mr. Twitchell lured Mr. Altinger to a residential garage that night and killed and dismembered him to match a movie shot in the same garage by Mr. Twitchell and his buddies two weeks earlier.

The Crown has also entered into evidence a text document found deleted on Mr. Twitchell’s laptop hard-drive that details an unnamed author’s plan to explore his “dark side” and become a serial killer.

Mr. Twitchell said the garage movie, called “House of Cards,” gave him the idea that eventually got out of hand.

The eight-minute slasher flick revolves around a philandering husband who goes to meet a woman he met online. But he is instead tasered and abducted by a mysterious man in a hockey mask.

The killer takes the husband to a closed room, tapes him to a chair and obtains his computer pass code to clean out his bank account. He tells the victim he is being killed for his cheating ways, runs him through with a samurai sword and hacks up the body parts.

Mr. Twitchell told jurors that after the movie was shot he came up with a plan to make sequels for “House of Cards” and to create a buzz around what he hoped would be a franchise. His idea was for something he called multiple angle psychosis layering entertainment, or MAPLE.

Through MAPLE, he would put actual people through the same experience as the “House of Cards” victim, but not kill them.

That way, he said, when those people saw the movie, they would text or e-mail friends to say something similar had actually happened to them. That, he believed, would get people talking.

“We would be trying to keep the audience down the rabbit hole,” said Mr. Twitchell, referring to Alice In Wonderland.

He testified that on Oct. 3, 2008, he posed as an Internet date online to lure his first stranger, Gilles Tetreault, to the garage.

Mr. Twitchell said he had bought knives and created a “kill room” with plastic sheets on the walls and table to catch blood that was part of the hoax.

He said the plan was to surprise Mr. Tetreault, tell him it was all make-believe and ask him to write about it on the web.

But 10 minutes before Mr. Tetreault arrived, things changed.

“I got this spur of the moment idea,” Mr. Twitchell testified. “Instead of going through it in the regular way, I’ll actually try to scare this guy.”

Mr. Tetreault testified last week that when he got to the garage a man in a hockey mask tried to incapacitate him with a stun baton. He told court he fought back and managed to escape. Mr. Twitchell agreed that was pretty much what happened.

A week after that, Mr. Twitchell said, he lured Mr. Altinger, 38, to the same garage on the same premise.

But when Mr. Altinger arrived, Mr. Twitchell said he had reverted to his original plan of telling him it was a hoax and asking him to write about it on the web.

Mr. Altinger, he said, “did not seem humoured at it.”

The two began swearing at each other. Mr. Altinger called him “pathetic.” Mr. Twitchell called him a lovelorn loser. Mr. Altinger then kicked him and the fight was on, he said.

Mr. Twitchell said he grabbed a pipe and smashed Mr. Altinger on the forehead before Mr. Altinger wrested the pipe from him and set to hit him back. Mr. Twitchell testified he grabbed a nearby hunting knife and thrust out in self-defence.

“It was the sickest feeling ever,” Mr. Twitchell told court, fighting back tears and biting his lip.

“It all happened so fast.

“I saw it [the blade] sticking out of him.”

He told court he didn’t call for an ambulance because he knew Mr. Altinger would soon be dead from a wound to the heart. But he said he also knew that a man killed in a garage dressed up like a kill room would make him a murder suspect.

He told the jurors that, in a panic, he cut up the body, tried to burn it, cut it up some more then finally dumped it down a sewer. He said he later broke into his victim’s home and wrote e-mails under Mr. Altinger’s name to his friends, saying had run off to Costa Rica with a woman. He also stole his printer and laptop.

“It really comes down to trying to run away from something I should’ve faced head-on from the start.”

Mr. Twitchell also admitted that he wrote the 42-page document found on his laptop. He said most of it is an accurate description of his life during those turbulent weeks, though the names were changed.

But he said his preoccupation with serial killer thoughts was just research for his work. And, he said, the death of the Altinger character was made up.

The document details not a fight, but a surprise attack on a defenceless man as he enters the garage.

That didn’t happen, said Mr. Twitchell, but he explained he recrafted the death as a sadistic sneak attack to punish himself in a pique of self-loathing.

“It was like trying to kick yourself,” he said. “I would write any rude, crass or insensitive thing.”

Mr. Twitchell offered at the start of his trial to plead guilty to interfering with human remains, but the Crown rejected the proposed plea.

‘’It’s not a sex party honey, I’m being held hostage’’

Newsspeak understands that couples like to inject some excitement into their sex lives and this of course works well when both partners agree. However, when a husband takes things into his own hands and the wife is left out of the loop, it doesn’t always pan out as one would hope. And when the police get involved, well, that just leads to a whole different ball game.

This is an amazing news story set in Chicago. Enjoy!
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An Orland Park woman, who awoke recently to find her husband and a man she’d never seen before standing by the bed in their underwear, told police she didn’t understand why her husband wouldn’t let her call the police after claiming he’d been taken hostage, or why he tried to talk her into going downstairs.

Police, however, have their own idea of what happened, and arrested the husband for felony disorderly conduct, and the man and another woman for misdemeanor prostitution.

Police arrested Geries Fakhoury, 32, of the 9400 block of John Humphrey Drive, and Thomas C. “Chris” Chatham, 35, and Shina Tousant, 49, both of the 1200 block of South Tripp Street in Chicago on March 8.

Fakhoury told police he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by two persons he’d never met and had no idea why he’d been targeted.

Police said Fakhoury initially told them he’d been accosted by a screwdriver-wielding man and a woman as he was entering his home around 10 p.m. March 7. He allegedly told police the two made him smoke a substance he suspected was crack cocaine, coerced him into entering his home, then demanded money.

Fakhoury reportedly told the couple he had no cash but agreed to go to a nearby bank where he withdrew $800 in two $400 transactions from a cash machine.

He said he and the couple returned to his home, where they forced him to smoke some more of the substance, strip down to his underwear, then pay his wife a visit with the other man.

But after questioning all four, police believe instead Geries Fakhoury paid Chatham and Tousant $400 apiece for a sex party meant to include the unsuspecting wife. The wife declined Chatham’s advances and remained alone in the bedroom, police said.

Fakhoury’s wife told police her husband said the couple took him hostage, but refused to allow her to call police, even when they were alone in the bedroom.

He told her to let them do what they want, she told police.

Chatham and Tousant left around 12:30 a.m., taking car keys, Fakhoury’s wallet, the garage door opener and the $800.

Shortly after that, Fakhoury allowed his wife to call police.

Fundamentally, it’s about public masturbation.

‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone’

Christian fundamentalists are well known to preach against ‘unholy’ acts; gay and premarital sex, self-gratification, etc. so it is fairly amusing when NewsSpeak is passed this story regarding a well-known ‘Bible-Basher’ Rev. Grant Storms. Storms has for numerous years campaigned against the ‘Southern Decadence’ festival which is held in New Orleans. This is mainly a gay festival and Storms views it as sexually pervasive and immoral. After this little incident, he may want to change his target.
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The Rev. Grant Storms, the Christian fundamentalist known for his bullhorn protests of the Southern Decadence festival in the French Quarter, was arrested on a charge of masturbating at a Metairie park Friday afternoon.

Storms, 53, of 2304 Green Acres Road in Metairie, was taken into custody at Lafreniere Park after two women reported seeing him masturbating in the driver's seat of his van, which was parked near the carousel and playground, a Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office report said.

The first woman told deputies she was taking her children to the playground and parked next to the van at about noon. As she was walking around her own vehicle, she noticed the van windows were down and the occupant was "looking at the playground area that contained children playing, with his zipper down...," the report said. The woman noted that he was masturbating and quickly ushered her children out of her car.

She told a second woman, who walked to the van and also spotted the man masturbating, the report said. The second witness told deputies that the driver saw her and tried to conceal the zipper area of his pants with his hand.

The two women flagged down a park employee who notified the Sheriff's Office. The employee detained the man, later identified as Storms, until deputies arrived.

Storms told deputies he was having lunch at the park when he decided to urinate using a bottle instead of the restroom, the report said.

Deputies booked him with obscenity. Bond was set at $5,000, but he was released from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on Sunday because of jail crowding.

Storms could not be reached for comment on Monday.

A self-styled "Christian patriot," Storms led a small West Bank congregation called The Reformer Church and for 10 years hosted "The Reformer Radio Show" on WSHO. Storms has railed against the Roman Catholic church, calling it "satanic" and "demonic."

He is especially known for arming followers with bullhorns, Bibles and picket signs to protest Southern Decadence, the three-day gay festival held in the French Quarter during Labor Day weekend. Storms grabbed national attention in 2003 with his failed attempts to shut down what Southern Decadence organizer Chuck Robinson called a peaceful festival that celebrates gay and alternative lifestyles.

"He's done everything through the years to disturb that and try to make it into something nasty that it's not," Robinson said. "If the Rev. Storms is caught doing that in our city, it is ludicrous and heinous that he would have the nerve to complain about any kind of sexuality."

The amplified antics of Storms and his followers prompted the New Orleans City Council to adopt ordinances banning the use of megaphones and other such devices in the French Quarter, though the law requires a certain decibel meter reading before it can be enforced.

Earl Bernhardt, co-owner of The Tropical Isles and two other Bourbon Street clubs, got a temporary restraining order against Storms during Southern Decadence 2004, then went bullhorn to bullhorn with him when that didn't work.

"He's, in my opinion, just repulsive," Bernhardt said Monday. "I'm not surprised at all that he got caught doing that. Serves him right. He'll be out of our hair down here."

GONE WITH THE WIND

There is no need for Newspeak to add any commentary here, the story speaks for itself. Taken form the AP.
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A US man has appeared in court accused of stabbing a friend to death at a party because people were making fun of his flatulence.

Marc Higgins pleaded not guilty to murder and attacking three others at the house party in New Britain, Connecticut.

Police say the 21-year-old was "very drunk" at the party last month and was ridiculed because of flatulence.

One woman even slapped him because of it.

At that point he stormed out of the party and returned about 45 minutes later with three knives and started stabbing people indiscriminately.

Matthew Walton died of his wounds. Three others were injured.

Higgins told police he was angry and wanted to show that people should not make fun of him.

Kid Councillor.

There is nothing like a Politician to cause discontent amongst the British public, especially with the whole ‘expense’ saga that exposed a self-severing and out-dated parliament. The political landscape saw voters shifting to independent candidates, who tried to demonstrate that they could usher in a whole new era.

One such figure is Tom Bledsoe, now the youngest elected politician in the land. Newsspeak wishes you the best of luck old, sorry, young chap.

Taken from the PA Newswire.
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A sixth-former thought to be the youngest elected politician in Britain has been sworn into office with a warning about his use of internet social networking sites.

Independent Tom Bletsoe, 18, of St Ives, Cambridgeshire, was told that any inappropriate comments on Facebook and Twitter might breach St Ives Town Council's conduct code.

Council clerk Alison Melnyczuk issued the warning as Mr Bletsoe - who was 18 years and 52 days when he won a by-election earlier this month - officially joined St Ives council by signing a register and collecting an official tie and badge.

"I've never given a councillor that warning before," said Mrs Melnyczuk. "I did it because Facebook and Twitter are such a big thing now and I thought he should be aware."

Mr Bletsoe, who attended the ceremony at St Ives town hall with his father Robin, 64, said he did not think that the warning was aimed at him because of his youth.

He added: "I just think they know that I use Twitter and Facebook a lot."

Mr Bletsoe, who has yet to vote in a general election, said he had no strong party political feelings but wanted to make a contribution.

"People should not vote for parties. They should vote for people," he added. "If there were a general election tomorrow I would not vote Lib Dem or Conservative or Labour."

But Mr Bletsoe, who has ambitions to be an actor or teacher, said he thought national and local politicians who over-claimed expenses had been "greedy" and "ridiculous".

Mrs Melnyczuk said councillors could claim expenses in certain circumstances, but Mr Bletsoe said he intended to claim nothing.

"I would like to think that at the end of the financial year I've claimed nothing," he said. "I'll walk to meetings. I only live five minutes away."

I can't believe it's...murder

This story regarding an unconventional murder weapon reminds NewsSpeak of Roald Dahl’s ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ story. The murderers hatched a clever plot; however, they soon came unstuck.
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A Sicilian couple thought they had the perfect weapon to get rid of her ex-husband -- a slab of butter which would melt after they asphyxiated him, the Corriere della Sera newspaper reported Saturday.

But a post-mortem found remains of the butter in the airways of Calogero Lo Cocco and the pair were unmasked, the paper said.

On Wednesday Lo Cocco, 40, had gone back to the marital home he had not visited since his divorce, where his ex-wife lived with her new boyfriend at Campobello di Licata near Agrigente in southern Sicily.

Advertisement: Story continues below They had set upon him and suffocated him with the butter, before claiming he had arrived drunk and attacked them, forcing them to tie him up, when he had suddenly collapsed and died.

© 2011 AFP

This story took place in a rural Alabama Courtroom and could be viewed as yet another ‘Gun-Ho’ situation where law officers are all too quick to respond with firepower. Another interesting element is the fact there seems to be alterative views as to what happened. NewsSpeak is going with the Court’s take on things. Taken form the AP.
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A judge pulled a gun on a crutch-swinging defendant who went berserk in a crowded rural courtroom after being found guilty of harassment.

A police officer shot and wounded the man, who had a plaster cast on his leg, after he lunged at Judge Carlton Teel and tried to grab the weapon, authorities in Goodwater, Alabama, said.

But some witnesses disputed the account, saying the man never threatened the judge.

Struck by at least one bullet, the man, identified by witnesses as Bryant Ford, was taken by helicopter to the hospital at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, where he was said to be in a good condition.

"The guy came over the bench at him trying to get it," said lawyer Keith Warren, who was in court representing another person. "He just literally got in the judge's face, then backed off and started swinging the crutch at the judge."

But some of the 40 or so people who were in the court in Goodwater, about 60 miles north of Montgomery, disagreed, saying they did not see the man attack the judge, who was sitting behind a tall desk, or attempt to grab a gun.

Sara Williams said she was sitting in the front row when the man, whom she knew, became agitated after the judge fined him about £500, waving one of his crutches in the air.

"The police were hollering for him to get down" when an officer opened fire, she said.

Ms Williams said she yelled: "Don't shoot him no more!" just before the officer fired again.

Later she and more than a dozen people stood across the road from City Hall chanting: "We want justice."

But Mr Warren said: "This gentleman forced the police officer to shoot him. There was no reason for the guy to become as irate as he got. He went nuts."

Anyone who claimed the man did not attack the judge was either unable to see or was telling an "outright lie", he added.

Court records showed that Ford, 25, was due in court on a harassment charge filed by a neighbour who claimed he swore at her in December after accusing her of talking to police about him. Judge Teel heard the case without a jury and the trial lasted less than five minutes.

Judge Teel's brother Frank, a lawyer in nearby Rockford, said district court proceedings were held once a month at Goodwater City Hall for people who could not get to the county seat.

"I've not talked to him, but I'm told he was OK," Mr Teel said of his brother. The judge's aide suffered powder burns, he said.

Berlusconi's Blood Boils

NewsSpeak follows the exploits of Silvio Berlusconi closely; not only is he the Italian Premier, he is also the third richest man in Italy and his business empire dominates the media landscape.

As NewsSpeak readers will know, Berlusconi has an extensive record of criminal allegations which include mafia connections, tax fraud and corruption, yet due to laws passed by his parliamentary majority, some of the charges have been dropped by the courts. The latest scandal to hit the aging Premier centres on an investigation that claims he paid a 17-old-year prostitute for sex, a crime under Italian law. Berlusconi of courses claims it is a liberal plot to bring him down and constantly attacks the liberal establishment.

The following story taken directly from the AP, is a good example of a man who is really starting to feel the pressure and is taking a no-holds-barred approach.

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A furious Silvio Berlusconi has called into a TV talk show about the prostitution investigation that has targeted him, shouting, trading insults with the host and calling the program a "brothel."

The outburst stirred strong reactions Tuesday. The Italian premier's supporters said Berlusconi had a right to defend himself, while his critics called the comments a display of aggression by an increasingly desperate man.

Berlusconi is not new to calling live TV shows to complain about coverage or vent frustration. But his comments Monday night were harsher than usual.
"I've been watching a disgusting show, conducted in a despicable, vile and repugnant way," Berlusconi said.

The talk show host, well-known left-leaning journalist Gad Lerner, invited Berlusconi to tone down his comments and at one point called him a "lout" when Berlusconi made a swipe against the female guests on the show.

"Why don't you go before the magistrates instead of insulting people?" Lerner asked the premier.

Berlusconi has refused to heed a summons by Milan prosecutors, who have placed him under investigation on suspicion he paid for sex with a 17-year-old girl and used his office to cover it up.

The 74-year-old premier has denied wrongdoing, saying he never paid for sex. He has insisted _ as he has in the face of previous legal woes _ that he is the victim of politically driven magistrates who want to oust him from power.

"The reality that has been represented here is the opposite of the truth and I feel insulted," Berlusconi said during the show. "I know what I'm saying, you don't," he told the host. He urged a political ally in the studio to leave this "incredible TV brothel."

The show was on La7, a private station that is one of the few national channels over which Berlusconi, a media tycoon, has no control. He owns Mediaset, the country's largest private broadcaster, and as premier indirectly controls the state-run RAI.

Berlusconi has come under mounting criticism from the Catholic church, and some have called for his resignation in the face of a scandal they say is hurting Italy's image.

He insists parties at his villas are elegant and dignified soirees and not the bacchanalia described by Italian newspapers, which for days have been filled with descriptions of dancing topless girls and orgies. The newspapers have printed what they say are transcripts of prosecutor-ordered wiretaps of conversations amid participants at the parties.

The premier's lawyers have put together their defense documents and left them with Milan prosecutors.

The lawyers have not publicly commented on what the documents say, but Corriere della Sera, the newspaper that broke the news of the probe days ago, said they include testimony from several witnesses denying the allegations. According to Corriere, the witnesses give an altogether different description of Berlusconi's parties, saying that after dinner, guests move into one of two rooms: a disco, or a cinema that shows movies, excerpts of political events or speeches and football matches of AC Milan, the team owned by Berlusconi.

A parliamentary committee that has to decide whether to give prosecutors special permission to search some of Berlusconi's properties was set to start discussing the case Tuesday. A decision is not expected for a few days.

Explosive climax!

Firstly, NewsSpeak would like to wish all it's readers a 'Happy Christmas and New Year' and NewsSpeak aims to update this blog more often in 2011.

Carrying on with the Christmas theme, NewsSpeak would like to draw your attention to this explosive story taken from CBS Local. It involves a jilted lover from Minnesota who devised a cunning, albeit dangerous plan to take revenge on an ex-girlfriend.

Prepared to be shocked yet amused with this bomb of a story.

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A Waseca man is accused of planting an explosive device inside a sex toy intended for one of his ex-girlfriends.

According to the criminal complaint, 37-year-old Terry Allen Lester has been charged with felony courts of creating an explosive device and making terroristic threats.

The incident was reported on New Year's Day. Authorities said Lester had been staying with the apparent intended victim and another woman.

He had been forced to leave the apartment by the landlord but left behind bags, one of which contained a container marked 'Christmas Gifts'.

Lester allegedly mentioned to one of the two roommates his intentions, so they reported their suspicions about the bags to police.

The criminal complaint says police found a sex toy inside the package that had been modified with gun poweder and buck shot, which were connected to a trigger inside the battery port.

Authorities say Lester planned on giving the sex toy to one of three women he had previously been involved with where the reationship ended poorly. Materials were found suggesting he intended to make two other similar devices.

Lester told friends that ''he would pull the trigger and it would blow them up'.

Police say the device was missing a key starting element, but it still could have exploded.

''Any time you mix electronics, gun powder and BBs, we need to make sure it is rendered safe and doesn't harm anyone,'' said Capt. Kris Markeson.

The bizarre plot has startled those who live in Waseca.

Lester has been a long-time customer at Lindner's Liquor.

''I am in total shock. I could not believe it when I read it for sure. He has always been nice when he has come into the store'', Owner Tae Borne said.

Lester told police the bomb wasn't his. He has been taken into custody and faces up to 10 years in jail, if convicted.