Reviews Category
We don’t just report off-beat news, breaking news and digest the best and worst of the news media analysis and commentary. We give an original take on what happened and why. We add lols, satire, news photos and original content.
1937: Matt Busby’s Liverpool FC Take On Chelsea
FLASHBACK to August 28th 1937:
Football League Division One: Chelsea v Liverpool at Stamford Bridge
Liverpool goalkeeper Arthur Riley (r) saves, watched by teammate Matt Busby (second l) and Chelsea’s Harry Burgess (l) and Jimmy Argue (c)
Matt Busby… Whatever happened to him..?
Posted: 27th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Liverpool | Comment
How Matchbox Cars Were Made For Her Majesty The Queen In 1965
A rare blue Matchbox No.34 Volkswagen van with black wheel’s, valued between 7,000 and 8,000 pounds
IN1965, Matchbox toys were die-cast objects of delight, produced by LESley Smith and RodNEY SMith’s Lesney Products & Co. Ltd.
Queen Elizabeth II watches as miniature models are spread on a conveyor belt during her visit to the makers of the “Matchbox” models series – Lesney Products and Company Ltd – at Hackney Wick, London. Date: 12/11/1969
This video show us how they were made:
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Posted: 27th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, The Consumer | Comment
Edward Snowden: The ‘Messiah’ Who Won You A Pulitzer And Himself A Halo
A carnival float depicting US president Obama putting whistleblower Edward Snowden on an electric chair prior the traditional carnival parade in Duesseldorf, western Germany, on Monday, March 3, 2014. The foolish street spectacles in the carnival centers of Duesseldorf, Mainz and Cologne, watched by hundreds of thousands of people, are the highlights in Germany’s carnival season on Rosemonday. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner) Date: 03/03/2014
WHAT is your view on the Pulitzer Prize committee awarding their prize for Public Service to The Washington Post and The Guardian for featuring Edward Snowden and his haul of National Security Agency documents?
What did you make of it? Right? Wrong?
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Madeleine McCann: The Super Bock Theory
MADELEINE McCann: the Sunday Express has Our Maddie on her usual place: the front page.
The headline is sensational. But which Maddie Suspect? Which shirt? Found by whom?
James Murray explains:
A FORMER Scotland Yard detective has uncovered a sensational clue that could help solve the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Peter Bleksley believes the shirt worn by the prime suspect was a rare design produced by beer company Super Bock.
The shirt is this one seen below, reportedly worn by the man linked to attacks on children in Portugal.
So. The man who is no longer a serving policeman – who is not working on the case in any official capacity – has found this shirt?
It was not sold but given away to loyal customers and should be possible to trace. The suspect is a child sex attacker who has been operating for years in the area of Portugal where Madeleine vanished in 2007.
His burgundy coloured top with a distinctive white circle on the back was described by the families of two of his victims.
We thought it looked not a lot unlike this top, as worn by Arsenal FC:
Back to Mr Bleksley, 54, “a founder member of the Yard’s undercover squad”, who tells the paper:
“Some people have suggested it bore a resemblance to a strip once worn by the Arsenal football team.”
Yes. We did.
“However, I think a more likely explanation could be that the man was wearing one of these Super Bock promotional T-shirts.”
More likely? So. He hasn’t found the top worn by the suspect, then?
This is the logo for Super Bock beer:
And this is a super Bock Tee:
What else do we know about Mt Bleksley? His twitter profile tells us:
I write, consult, and comment upon subjects that I know a lot about. Policing, crime, security. Husband. Dad to 3 great sons. Love sport, especially QPR. London
The Guardian tells us he is “a director and co-owner of a business intelligence company”.
So. He’s an independent, self-employed man on the case. All power to him. He’s doing the job of an investigative journalist. He adds:
“From speaking to bar owners I know the design for these T-shirts changes every year and only a certain number are handed out to regular customers. Therefore, it would be possible to check back on all the designs and the years they were produced and see which one bears most similarity to that witnessed by families of victims. Then it would be possible to check the distribution of the T-shirts to see where they were given out. Not all pubs bother with the promotion so through a process of elimination it may be possible to narrow down where such shirts may have been handed out and then bar owners could be asked about their customers.
“We know that some victims said the man smelt of stale alcohol and tobacco and that he had a pot belly, so that would suggest he was a regular drinker or may have worked in a pub or restaurant.”
So. Has he found one?
In the Algarve resort of Carvoeiro we found a tradesman wearing one of the shirts with the words Super Man on it. He said he had owned the shirt for a number of years.
No. He hasn’t found one.
Such are the facts…
Posted: 27th, April 2014 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comment
The Murderous Attempt to Kidnap British Princess Anne In 1974
These articles – except the bullet-holed diary – were found by police in the possession of Ian Ball, 26, who pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to attempting to kidnap Princess Anne, attempted murder of two police officers and wounding two civilians. The diary belonged to shot PC Michael Hills, with the bullet that pierced it still lodged in his liver. On the table are handcuffs, two pairs of which are locked together to provide leg shackles, keys for the handcuffs, gloves worn by Ball during the incident, six spent rounds, three live rounds and 39 spares for the .22 gun and a .38 Astra with five spent rounds and 19 spares. Date: 22/05/1974
ON March 20, 1974, Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace along Pall Mall in their Rolls-Royce, driven by Alexander Callender. Rowena Brassey, the Princess’s Lady-in-waiting, was sitting in the car across from the Princess. Next to her was Anne’s armed bodyguard, Inspector James Wallace Beaton.
At the wheel of his Royal Rolls Royce in the royal mews of the Palace of Holyroodhouse is Alexander Callender, of Edinburgh, who has been 20 years in the royal service as a chauffeur. He won the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for his part in protecting Princess Anne during the attempted kidnap of Princess Anne by Ian Ball. Date: 05/07/1974
Another car approached. This white Ford Escort forced the Roller to stop by blocking their route. A man got out. He was Ian Ball, 26, an unemployed labourer from north London.
Beaton got of the Rolls.
Exterior front view of No.3 Christchurch Road, Crouch Hill, London, which was accommodation used by Ian Ball.
Date: 17/05/1974
He had two guns. He fired six shots at the Princess’s car. He shot Beaton on the shoulder.
Ball then rushed to the Rolls. He tried to open the rear door, where Anne was still seated. Anne and Captain Phillips held it shut. Brassey crawled out the other door. Beaton crawled back in. Ball fired. The bullet hit Beaton’s raised hand. Ball shot Beaton again.
Callendar got our the car. He confronted the gunman. Ball shot him in the chest. Ball now managed to prise open the rear door. He grabbed Anne’s arm. Ball addressed her:
“Please, come out. You’ve got to come.”
Phillips took hold of her. The men pulled. Anne’s dress tore.
Seven men came to the aide of the Princess.
Among them was tabloid journalist, a former boxer, two chauffeurs and three policemen.
Sun journalist Brian McConnell, 46, was shot in the chest by Ian Ball during the fired by Ian Ball during the attempted kidnap of Princess Anne in Pall Mall. Date: 20/03/1974
PC Michael Hills, 22, heard the shots and attended. He was hit in the stomach. Hills radioed for help.
Ronald Russell, a company cleaning executive, was driving home from work. He saw the commotion. He’d seen Ball shoot Hills. Russell, a 6’4” former boxer, advanced on Ball. Russell would later say:
“I pulled over and heard a lot of banging and smashing which I thought was the general rumpus. But then Ball shot a policeman, and I thought ‘that’s a liberty, he needs sorting’.”
The kidnapping was not going to plan.
A second chauffeur, one Glenmore Martin, now parked his car in front of Ball’s rented car.
Sun journalist John Brian McConnell had been following in a taxi. He got out. He told Ball:
“Don’t be silly, old boy. Put the gun down.”
Ball shot him.
As Ball made once more for the Princess, Russell punched him in the back of the head.
Ball ran around the car towards the princess, she jumped back in with Phillips, shutting the door. Ronald Russell then punched Ball in the face. He said:
“Ball had a gun at her head. I lent in to the car and said ‘come this way Anne, you’ll be safe.’ I pulled her out and held her in front of me. Ball got behind me, and I thought ‘if he shoots me in the back it won’t hurt as much’. I turned and we were face to face. He was pointing a gun at me. I hit him fair and square on the chin. He went down and police were everywhere.”
The place was now swarming with police.
Ball ran.
Ron Russell, 28, of Chester Road, Strood, helped Princess Anne during the royal’s attempted kidnapping in Pall Mall.
Ball ran through through St. James Park.
Peter Edmonds, a temporary detective constable, gave chase. He tossed his coat over Ball’s head, rugby tackled him and made an arrest.
Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, Sir Robert Mark (r) talks with the three police officers who are to receive bravery awards for protecting Princess Anne during the attempted kidnapping by Ian Ball. (l-r) PC Michael Hills receives the George Medal, Detective Constable Peter Edmonds is awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal and Princess Anne’s bodyguard, Inspector James Beaton is awarded the George Cross. Date: 05/07/1974
A wounded man is carried into the waiting ambulance
Soon after attempted kidnap of Princess Anne, police officers search among the daffodils blooming at the side of the Mall.
Ball had rented the escort.
When searched, police found the haul you see in the first photograph above: handcuffs, Valium, a ransom letter addressed to the Queen – he would demand £2 million in £5 notes, the money stuffed into 20 unlocked suitcases and sent by plane to Switzerland.
The Royal car in which Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips had been travelling in when it was stopped by bullets in a kidnap attempt on the Princess in Pall Mall, London. Date: 20/03/1974
Journalists scrambled to pull together theories on how a mentally ill, unemployed man could have masterminded a well-funded kidnapping attempt on his own. An office clerk told a reporter that the police had traced a typewriter that Ball had rented to write the ransom letter. Papers reported that one line of the letter read “Anne will be shot dead.” Days after the kidnapping attempt, a group calling themselves the Marxist-Leninist Activist Revolutionary Movement sent a letter claiming responsibility to The Times of London. Scotland Yard dismissed any connection between that group and Ian Ball. Others recognized a familiar theme in the reported content of the ransom letter, in which Ball had allegedly stated that he would donate the Queen’s ransom to the National Health Services. One month before, a group identifying as the Symbionese Liberation Army had kidnapped Patricia Hearst. In its communication with the Hearst family, the SLA said that they would return the young woman if her family donated what would amount to millions of dollars of food to hungry Californians.
Princess Anne chats to her wounded bodyguard, Inspector James Beaton at Westminster Hospital. Inspector James Beaton was injured during Ian Ball’s attempt to kidnap Princess Anne in Pall Mall.
Date: 25/03/1974
Princess Anne talks to PC Michael Hills, who was injured during Ian Ball’s attempt to kidnap Princess Anne in Pall Mall.
Date: 25/03/1974
A Scotland Yard picture of Police Constable Michael Hills, a 22-year-old bachelor living at Croydon, Surrey, who was on duty outside St James’s Palace when he heard a gun fire. He was wounded in the chest as he approached gunman Ian Ball and collapsed after using his personal radio to report: “I have been shot”. PC Hills joined the Metropolitan Police ‘A’ Division at Cannon Row last may, straight from training school. Date: 21/03/1974
Ball was tried.
A closed police van, with Ian Ball inside, arrives at Bow Street Court. The unemployed 26-year-old, of no fixed abode, was charged with attempting to murder Princess Anne’s bodyguard, Inspector James Beaton, in Pall Mall.Date: 21/03/1974
Ball told the court:
“I would like to say that I did it because I wished to draw attention to the lack of facilities for treating mental illness under the National Health Service.”
Ball admitted to attempted murder and kidnapping. He was sentenced to a life term in a mental health facility. He would end up in Broadmoor, the high-security psychiatric hospital.
Ball was prosecuted for the attempted murder of the princess’s detective, and various offences under the Offences Against the Person Act, but he was not, perhaps surprisingly, charged with treason; threatening the life of, or kidnapping, the Sovereign’s daughter with the intent of extorting money from the Royal family is not treasonable in the absence of an actual violation.
Ronald Russell was decorated for valour, the Queen pinned the George Cross medal to him and said:
“The medal is from the Queen of England, the thank you is from Anne’s mother.”
Princess Anne seemed fairly cool, telling Michael Parkinson on his TV chatshow:
“It’s fair to say that if anyone was very intent on wiping one out it would be very easy to do.”
Earlier she had said:
“It was all so infuriating; I kept saying I didn’t want to get out of the car, and I was not going to get out of the car. I nearly lost my temper with him, but I knew that if I did, I should hit him and he would shoot me.”
Ian Ball has neither been heard of not seen. He is non-person.
Posted: 26th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Royal Family | Comment
Life In The Hollywood Petri Dish: In 1966 Eddie Fisher Married Connie Stevens And Liz Taylor Looked On
ON January 30, 1967, singer Eddie Fisher and actress Connie Stevens (nee Concetta Anna Ingolia) announced their engagement at New York’s Plymouth Theatre.
He wore hair oil. She wore furs.
Eddie was the former TV show called Coke Time.
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Posted: 26th, April 2014 | In: Celebrities, Flashback | Comment
“If He Fires Me, I’ll Thank Him For It”: Five Great Character Moments in the Timothy Dalton James Bond Era
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Posted: 25th, April 2014 | In: Film, Flashback, Key Posts | Comments (6)
Legal Highs: Kids Smear Burt’s Bees On Their Eyes To Get A Buzz
FASTER than the officials can ban ways of getting high, the kids are finding news ways to get goofed.
They’ve tried smoking bed bugs, and those still able to move and use their hands have moved on to “Beezin”.
‘What’s that?’ you ask.
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Posted: 25th, April 2014 | In: Reviews, Strange But True | Comment
Essex Police On Patrol In Chelmsford Blast Sound of da Police by KRS One
GOOD to see that Essex Police patrolling the mean streets of Chelmsford, Essex, has downloaded our compilation of the Greatest Songs ABout The Police (not all of them in favour. But was it right for one of the force’s marked police car to blast from its speakers Sound of da Police by KRS One?
An Essex Police spokesman said: “We have viewed the footage and are looking into the matter.”
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Fancy A Shag? Then Chase The Bird With The Fat Arse
NICE, eh. The conclusion from the latest piece of research into human sexuality says that men looking for sex should chase women with big bums. That’s not quite how they actually describe the results of their research, this is true, but it is indeed what they mean.
What they’ve done is go and question women about their sexual behaviour. They’ve also measure the width of their hips (this is the bone measurement, not the muscle and fat over it). And they’ve found that women with wider hips are more likely to have a one night stand (ie, a quick shag with someone met in the pub) than women with narrower hips. Thus, obviously, if you’re looking for that quick shag then chase the birds with the fatter bum.
Where they might be wrong though is in their explanation:
The researchers, led by Professor Colin Hendrie, suggest that women with wider hips have more sexual partners because the birth process is generally easier and less traumatic for them than for smaller-hipped women (below 31cm).
He said: ‘Women’s hip width has a direct impact on their risk of potentially fatal childbirth-related injury. It seems that when women have control over their own sexual activity this risk is reflected in their behaviour.
‘Women’s sexual activity is therefore at least in part influenced by hip width.’
That’s a fun theory but it does require that women have some great knowledge of the risks of childbirth and also of the size of their own hip bones: as above, this isn’t the same as their actual hip size.
Other, rather more believable, theories can be used. For example, our society is obsessed with the idea that women are more attractive if they are thin. This means that women who are thin have greater choice about who they have sex with: and it’s a fairly standard part of the analysis of female sexuality that women are less likely than men to be looking for that quick shag. They’d prefer (not, not all all the time, but prefer) the beginning of a relationship to a sweaty fumble. And if thinness is what gives the ability to pick and choose among suitors then those rather broader of beam are going to find themselves offering the sex first in the possible hope that it will become the relationship.
Yes, I know, it all sounds rather sexist but then we are talking about sex. And there’s very good evidence that fat birds are dirtier in bed too, put out more often, for exactly these reasons.
I believe the numbers and results of this research but not the reasoning on offer as to why it happens.
5 Unspeakably Awful Songs of 1980s Horror Cinema
HORROR movies, like any other genre, are products of their time. So, naturally, their soundtracks are going to reflect the popular music of the day. This can be a good thing…. or a devastating handicap when the popular music of the day is disco and breakdancing. Yet, many horror flicks of the 1980s managed to get it right. The soundtrack to Halloween is expertly menacing, as were the soundtracks to Dario Argento’s films (thanks in no small part to Goblin). Perhaps one day we’ll look at the ones that did things right, but today we’re looking at the ones who did things oh so terribly wrong.
Graduation Day (1981)
“Everybody Wants to be the Winner”
I don’t know who sings this opening song, but I can only assume it’s a coked up Leo Sayer. Granted, I’m not a horror movie expert, but I think I’m correct in assuming the opening sequence of a horror film shouldn’t incite peals of mocking laughter. I could be wrong.
Friday the 13th: Part 3 (1982)
Main Titles
An excellent song to breakdance to, I’m sure; however, it seems utterly ridiculous as the opening theme to a slasher movie. The rather disturbing head on a table juxtaposed with a beat-box jam is downright laughable. This would have been right at home as the theme to Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo, not a horror movie. I suppose you could make the argument that the Friday the 13th films weren’t exactly serious horror films. Whatever the case, this breakdancing opener is still a laugh.
The House on Sorority Row (1983)
Music by 4 Out Of 5 Doctors
The band in the following video clip is “4 Out of 5 Doctors”, who play several songs throughout the film. When you watch this clip, be sure to pay attention to the part where the 3 girls are checking out a “cute” guy who winks at them – this may very well be cinema’s finest moment.
This dude is sporting what was commonly referred to as the “butt cut”. This scene is just priceless – I want to give this dude a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!
4 Out of 5 Doctors actually released a few albums, and were Billboard’s “best new band” one month. In an interview with PM Magazine, the band stated their debut record took five years to craft – each day methodically perfecting the ultimate album.
Hmmm…. not quite. They were also the house band in another horror flick, The Boogieman (1980).
Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare (1987)
“We Live To Rock” by Jon Mikl Thor
You’ve heard the phrase “so bad it’s good.” Well, this is “so bad it’s a blight upon all mankind.” Bodybuilder turned heavy-metal train-wreck, Thor, takes metal music to the absolute bottom of the barrel. Picture the worst songs by Quiet Riot, Ratt, and Twisted Sister all rolled into one. Oddly enough, Thor’s music ends up being the only thing remotely horrifying in the entire film.
The Pod People (1983)
“Burning Rubber Tires”
Repetitive, woefully generic, and best of all, the lyrics are incomprehensible. This would have been terrible on a record, but this embarrassing mess is being filmed, and the results are beyond cringeworthy. The moment at the end when the supposed rock star signals “It Stinks” has become something of an iconic moment among B-movie nerds. Most of the notoriety of “Hear the Engines Roll Now” is owed to Mystery Science Theatre 3000 who parodied it brilliantly.
For those wanting to read the lyrics (and I’m assuming that’s literally everyone reading this article), here they are in their entirety. You’re welcome.
With a fickle mind we kick the nickel beer
Steady as a goat, we’re flying over trout.
Ghetto down the highway at the speed of light;
All I want to feel now is the wind in my eyes.
Sack of monkeys in my pocket
My sister’s ready to go.Hear the engine roar now
Idiot control now
Hideous control now
Ninny on the road now.
Minnie in control, wheel’s on fire, burning rubber tires.Leer at jelly rolls now
Hiddy let’s it go now
Ninny inches po down
Pityin’ a po’ boy
Hear the engines roar, bees on pie, burning rubber tires.
Posted: 25th, April 2014 | In: Film, Flashback, Key Posts | Comment
Housing Association Valleys to Coast in Bridgend Offers Bedroom Tax Victims A Free Creme Egg
HOW was the bedroom tax for you? Did you manage to save for your next egg? Did you keep up with payments? The Housing association Valleys to Coast in Bridgend thanks you for fighting on through the austerity crisis by sending you a letter in the post and the chance to pick up a 60p ‘Creme Egg’.
Locals are welcome to take their own (rotten) eggs round to the Money Matters team and return the favour.
Spotter: Felicity Morse @FelicityMorse 7h
1966: When Harry Roberts Killed Coppers And A Dalek Looked The Other Way
The three London police officers shot and killed in Braybrook Street, West London. From left: PC Geoffrey Roger Fox, 41; Temporary Detective Constable David Stanley Bertram Wombwell, 25, and Detective Sargent Christopher Tippet Head, 30
ON 12 Dec 1966, Harry Roberts, John Witney and John Duddy were convicted of the murders of David Wombwell, Christopher Head and Geoffrey Fox.
Oblivious of the drama that was going on, a small bow hiding his identity under a Dalek suit, was among the very few spectators as John Edward Witney was ushered out of the West London Magistrate’s Court. The boys just went on playing their games.
Date: 31/08/1966
The murders were known as the Shepherd’s Bush murders as well as the Massacre of Braybrook Street.
The crime scene, featuring the Q-car and body of DS Christopher Head lying in the road
On 12 August 1966:
Harry Roberts, John Witney and John Duddy were sitting in a Standard Vanguard estate preparing for a robbery when 3 unarmed policemen in plain clothes – David Wombwell, Christopher Head and Geoffrey Fox – pulled up near them in a Triumph 2000 Q-car, and started asking questions about their insurance and MOT.
The latest British car – the Triumph 2000, a four-door five-seater saloon – at the Motor Show at Earls Court in London.
Date: 15/10/1963
Because they were carrying guns and thought were would be arrested they shot the policemen dead and drove off. A local resident made a note of the van number plate and they were later caught.
Screens surround the crime scene and a policeman stands guard. The officers, cruising in a police car were shot when they stopped to question men in another car. In the background is Wormwood Scrubs prison. Date: 13/08/1966
The hunt for the killers was on:
A small boy and a mother holding her baby look on today as police talk to the householders at the scene of the killing of three policemen by gunmen. Policemen have left their helmets in the road while they seek clues to the killers.
The Independent recalled the murders:
As two of the officers started to search the van, Roberts drew a 9mm Luger pistol and shot DC Wombwell through the left eye, and then shot DS Head in the back as he tried to flee. As the dying officer staggered away Roberts tried to shoot him in the head, but his gun jammed twice.
PC Fox had remained in the police car. Duddy fired a revolver at the officer twice from close range through the passenger window. Both bullets missed, but a third shot hit him in the left temple. The shot caused the policeman’s foot to push down on the accelerator and the car jumped forward, running over the body of DS Head and getting stuck there, with smoke pouring from its rear wheels. All three Metropolitan Police officers died from the gunshot wounds.
Roberts went on the run, hiding on Epping Forest.
It took 96 days before he was caught after one of the biggest manhunts the British police had mounted.
Mr William Morris, 61, standing near the hay barn on his farm, Blounts Farm, near Bishops Stortford, Herfordshire, where Harry Roberts is thought to have spent the night before his capture. Farmer Morris said he had driven the captured man to Bishop Stortford after his arrest by two armed police sergeants.
Roberts knew how to hide. He would later say:
“I was a sergeant and we used to go out on ambushes in the jungle. I would fire the first shot and then everyone would blast away… When I returned to Britain, I took up my old life as a criminal. I teamed up with Witney and we did dozens of armed robberies together – on betting shops, post offices. The most I earned was £1,000 from a single job. Witney was the eldest, the boss: he knew the best places to rob. Duddy joined us later…
“I was only caught because I was stupid. I had been trying to break open a safe at a * * factory and was late getting back to my camp. I had to cross a main road and had a blue holdall with me – no one in the country had a bag like that.”
The police sergeants Peter Smith (left) and Oswald Thorne who found Harry Roberts in a storage hanger some 300 yards from Thornley Woods near Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire. Date: 15/11/1966
All three were sentenced to life in prison.
John Duddy died in Parkhurst prison on 8 February 1981.
John Witney was released in 1991.
Police and members of the public line Uxbridge, London, as a procession of 14 cars brings the three coffins of the policemen, shot on the 12th August, to St. Stephens Church for the funeral service.
Roberts lives. In 2004, he spoke to the media. He had served 30 years and wanted parole:
“I don’t want to be Harry Roberts the cop killer. The media talk as if the shootings were yesterday: this keeps alive this image of me as a 30-year-old cop killer. I’m not that person any more. The Home Secretary is just responding to the media hype about me. When does punishment becomes vengeance? I feel my treatment has turned into institutionalised vengeance.”
His time in prison had not been uneventful:
The Times, March 30, 1973
In 2009, The Mail alleged that Roberts was no victim:
In April, The Mail on Sunday exclusively revealed how from his cell Roberts orchestrated a five-year campaign of intimidation against Joan Cartwright, 65, and her son, including horrific attacks on her animals. Mrs Cartwright works at an animal sanctuary in the Midlands, where Roberts worked on day release from Sudbury open prison.
When she secretly complained about his behaviour, he was moved from an open prison to a closed one.But he then initiated his hate campaign in a bid to stop Mrs Cartwright and her son giving evidence against him at a parole hearing. The triple murderer rang Mrs Cartwright up to five times a week for nearly four years from Channings Wood prison in Devon.
The calls included terrifying veiled threats that coincided with the attacks on her animals. In the worst incident, a horse’s head was hacked at with an axe the night before Mrs Cartwright and her son were due to give evidence.
Another of Mrs Cartwright’s horses had to be put down days after her husband Peter had resisted giving Roberts a character reference. Other assaults between 2002 and 2006 led to a horse losing an eye; a donkey dying after its pelvis was shattered, probably with a baseball bat; the family’s pet cat being electrocuted, and a peacock being strangled.
Roberts also coerced Mrs Cartwright to visit him in jail, so he could repeat his threats to her face.
Not nice. But Roberts’ is a folk hero to some, well at least to those who want to cock a snook at the cops. His name continues to be evoked in song:
“Harry Roberts is our friend, is our friend, is our friend / Harry Roberts is our friend, he kills coppers.”
The band Chumbawamba replaced Hare Krishna with a tribute to Harry Roberts:
You can buy a Harry Roberts T-shirt:
And you can watch the TV show of the novel:
The Times reviews:
He Kills Coppers, confidently adapted by Ed Whitmore from the Jake Arnott novel, is based on the story of Roberts, a small time, semi-deranged crook who knew how to use guns because he had handled them in the Army.
The Times again:
He Kills Coppers is superior, feel-the-lining-on-this stuff – bafflingly good for ITV1. Spall is a low, sure, hypnotic note – a cocksure, slightly bent rookie detective in 1966; all fags, Brylcreem and tarts. The great casting continues with the mesmeric Kelly Reilly as a prostitute who is both fragile and brassily capable: a certain kind of working-class girl you got in “the olden days”, who was a feminist before feminism was invented
After the deaths come the myth and the glamour…
Spotters: National Archives, Black Kalendar
Posted: 24th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts | Comment
1973: Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene’ Played At 33 RPM Reveals An Unexpected Secret
IN 1973, Dolly Parton released the song Jolene. It would become a smash hit.
Mark Wigmore gives some background to the great song:
There are several myths and legends about Dolly Parton’s song “Jolene.” It’s been said that the song is about a bank teller who had been flirting with her husband. There’s another story about a ten-year-old girl named Jolene who asked Parton for her autograph after a concert. But the real story is that of Parton striking out on her own after parting ways with her long-time mentor, Porter Wagoner...
Country music singer Porter Wagoner is shown in West Plains, Mo., Sept. 25, 1971.
Jolene was her first single after Dolly made the decision to embark on her solo career. It was released in October of 1973 and reached the number one position on the country charts in the U.S. and Canada in February of ’74. It was also her first song to cross over to the pop charts. “I Will Always Love You” followed suit a few months later. By the middle of 1975, Dolly had five number one hits in a row and a bona fide superstar was born.
American singer Dolly Parton arrived at Heathrow airport to take part in the eighth International Festival of Country Music at Wembley. Date: 16/04/1976
But did you know that when played at 33 RPM, it sounds like this:
Spotter: Fraser Nelson
Posted: 24th, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Music, Strange But True | Comment (1)
1984: New York Subway Commuters Giggle At Nude Walter Mondale On A Penthouse Magazine Cover
FLASHBACK to May 12, 1984:
Subway commuters point to a poster sporting a caricature of a nearly nude Walter Mondale that promotes the current issue of Penthouse Magazine at a Times Square Station in New York. CBGB, the birthplace of punk rock, is gone. No longer can visitors to Coney Island plunk down a few coins to play the unsettling attraction called “Shoot the Freak.” And seedy, edgy, anything-might-happen Times Square? These days, it’s all but childproof. Around countless corners, the weird, unexpected, edgy, grimy New York _ the town that so many looked to for so long as a relief from cookie-cutter America _ has evolved into something else entirely: tamed, prepackaged, even predictable. (AP Photo/Jim Lukoski, File)
Are You Having Sex For The Required 7 Minutes?
THE latest from yet another of that long line of “sex doctors” who would tell us all how to do it. Which is that you might be having sex that average number of times, two or three times a week, but you might also not be having sex for long enough. For, amazing though this might be to the young among us, well known to the more weighted with years, women can take longer than men to reach orgasm.
Now, a leading sexual health doctor has claimed the average couple has sex two to three times a week. But, many men are not able to hold out long enough to satisfy their partners, Dr Harry Fisch claims.
The urologist, from New York Presbyterian Hospital, says about 45 per cent of men orgasm within two minutes of starting penetrative sex, which is much too quick for the average woman. He adds that most women need five to seven minutes to reach orgasm, Nerve.com reports.
Hmm, sounds like it might be necessary to offer some comfort to a very large number of unsatisfied women out there. Fortunately there is indeed a method of doing this: have sex more often.
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Posted: 24th, April 2014 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)
Tormented And Alone: The Neurotic Dreams Of The Ladies Of Romance Comics
READING old romance comic books is like slipping into the subconscious mind of the mid-century female. It was a time when their entire well-being and happiness revolved around dumb men; when every single action and decision was predicated on pleasing oblivious males. Thus, in comic after comic, with rarely an exception, you have the requisite scene of the beautiful female lying in bed pining desperately over some clueless oaf.
No doubt, it’s still pretty common for females to fantasize over men. Women’s Lib made great strides towards creating a more level playing field, but it didn’t do away with human nature. To a certain extent, the cliché is a timeless truth: girls will be girls, and boys will be boys.
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Posted: 24th, April 2014 | In: Books, Flashback, Key Posts | Comment (1)
Josie Cunningham Wants Stabbing, Punching And Shooting, Says The Righteous Twitter Mob
JOSIE Cunningham is the victim of a Twitter hunt. Righteous of Twitter is in favour of killing the mum-of-two who said she would abort her child to appear on Big Brother. These clear thinkers would leave Josie’s children motherless and possibly orphaned. The “bitch”, “c*nt” and “slag” had it coming. We’ve compiled a selection of the more robust tweets. They all seem sincere and devoid of humour. And, remember, that what you say on Twitter can earn you a prison sentence two and a police raid.
But there is a caveat, if the Twitter police don’t like you (see Emma West should be raped and “Let’s hunt him down”) you really can say what you like. Free Speech, it turns out out, is only free on Twitter if the illiberal mob agree that their target is fair game and won’t snitch on you.
Let’s kick off with a call for the children to be taken away from their mother, whose been jailed for having an abortion:
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Stephen Sutton: Dying Teen’s ‘Final Thumbs Up’ Nets A Fortune
STEPHEN Sutton, 19, has terminal cancer.
He aimed to raise £10,000 for charity. It was one of his 46 bucket list of things to do.
Then he posted a “final thumbs up”. He said he was “nearing the end”. People noticed. And the donations began to skyrocket.
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Justin Bieber: Tribute To Japanese War Criminals Embarrasses Japanese War Criminals
Japanese soldiers of the seventh division, marching from worship at the famous Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, Japan, March 23, 1935.
JUSTIN Bieber has visited a shrine to Japanese war criminals, causing painful embarrassment to Japanese war criminals.
The Canadian pop star has been to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo which marks the lives of Japan’s 2.5 million war dead, including convicted war criminals who committed atrocities when the Japanese occupied large parts of China and South Korea. People like General Hideki Tojo, who was executed for war crimes in 1948.
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The Rise and Fall of Les McKeown and the Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers, 1974. The Press Association Archives.
THE BBC say it’s 60 million while The Guardian wrote that it was 120 million, The Scotsman, no doubt proud of the band’s Scottish roots, guessed 300 million.Whatever the amount was the Bay City Rollers certainly sold a lot of records although they still grumble to this day about how little they saw of the profits. Forty years ago the band was just about to become massive. The lead singer, Les McKeown, who was just eighteen when he joined the band late in 1973, had his name inked onto a million school bags and notebooks. He was the Harry Styles of the day, maybe even more popular – there was less music to go round in those days.
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Posted: 23rd, April 2014 | In: Flashback, Key Posts, Music | Comment
