Shocking CCTV images of two men stamping on woman's head in alcohol-fuelled revenge attack
Prolonged attack: One of the men is captured on CCTV stamping on the victim's head
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 7:24 AM on 27th October 2009
Caught on CCTV these sickening images show two men punching a lone woman to the ground, stamping on her head, and then stabbing their victim in the leg with a chisel.
Glen Muddiman, 27, and his friend Dean Ackers, 21, had been on a night out in Wigan town centre on June 8 this year to celebrate Ackers' 21st birthday when they got involved in a fight with two other men.
The pair felt they had lost and wanting revenge went to Muddiman's van where they armed themselves with a crow bar and a chisel.
Cowardly: Dean Ackers, 21, and Glen Muddiman, 27, catch up to the woman in Wigan town centre and begin punching her to the ground
They went in search of the other group, who ran off, but did catch up with the female victim, 31, who had been part of the group.
CCTV footage shows her remonstrating with the two men before they then launch the prolonged attack with Muddiman also stabbing the woman in the ankle with the chisel.
They were arrested shortly after by police.
Out for revenge: The woman argues with the drunk men who are intent on hurting her after they lost a fight with two other men
Vicious: The victim lies on her back helpless, as one of her attackers looms over
Detective Constable Rob Kitchen, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'This was a horrendous, disproportionate attack on a lone woman.
'It was cowardly for Muddiman and Ackers to take their frustrations out on her in this way.
'They armed themselves with weapons that would cause serious harm. Offenders like this belong in only one place, and that is behind bars.
'Wigan is like many town centres that have to put up with drink-fuelled violence on weeekends.
'We are committed to making our town and city centres safer and working with the public, parents and licensees, we are determined to reduce violent crime and give people the confidence to enjoy their own town centres without fear of being assaulted.'
Captured: Glen Muddiman, 27, and his friend Dean Ackers, 21, have both been jailed for the cowardly attack on a woman
The victim made a full recovery from injuries to her head and leg after spending time in hospital.
Muddiman, of HMP Liverpool, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon.
Ackers, of Rivers Street, Orrell, near Wigan, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapons.
Muddiman was jailed for three years for the attack and his co-accused was given 18 months at Liverpool Crown Court.
Skull of huge sea monster that could have eaten T. rex found in Dorset
Dinosaur experts in Dorset are examining the fossilised skull of a sea monster so large they say it could have eaten a Tyrannosaurus rex for breakfast.
The fossil head is 2.4m (8ft) long, suggesting that the beast measured up to 16m (54ft) from the tip of its massive, crocodile-like snout to the end of its muscular tail, making it one of the largest specimens ever found.
The skull belongs to a pliosaur, one of a group of giant aquatic reptiles which roamed the warm seas over what is now southern Britain 150 million years ago.
It was spotted protruding from an unstable patch of cliff by Kevan Sheehan, a local fossil hunter, after being exposed by a rockfall. He spent four years going back day after day and painstakingly managed to uncover it.
Experts hope that the rest of the pliosaur's body may lie hidden in the cliff, equally well preserved. The exact spot, in the 95 mile stretch of coastline dubbed the Jurassic Coast, is being kept secret to deter amateur hunters.
"Pliosaur skulls are very big, but not that robust, in general, and you tend to find them crushed flat — completely pancaked," Richard Forrest, an expert on plesiosaurs told the BBC.
"What is fantastic about this new skull, not only is it absolutely enormous, but it is pretty much in 3D and not much distorted.
"You have this wonderful lower jaw — and you can just see from the depth and the thickness that this was immensely strong. It could have taken a human in one gulp. In fact, something like a T. rex would have been breakfast for a beast like this."
Mr Forrest spoke of his awe at the discovery. "I had heard rumours that something big was turning up. But seeing this thing in the flesh, so to speak, is just jaw-dropping. It is simply enormous."
The fossil has been bought for £20,000 by Dorset County Museum, and it is hoped to put it on public display there in about six months time when the rocky accretions and debris have been cleaned away.
Richard Edmonds, Dorset's earth science manager for the Jurassic Coast, praised the "amazing effort" of the fossil hunter to uncover the skull, but warned that it could take decades for the rest of the giant to emerge from its cliff tomb.
"The ground is dipping very steeply, and as it is such a huge specimen it will be buried beneath layer upon layer of rock, so we will have to wait patiently for the next big rockslide," he said.
David Martill, a palaeontologist from the University of Portsmouth, said that pliosaurs were monsters with massive heads filled with razor-sharp teeth, carried on short, powerful necks. They had four paddle-like limbs to propel their bulky body through the water, and preyed on the ancestors of dolphins and even on others of their own kind.
"They had massive big muscles on their necks, and you would have imagined that they would bite into the animal and get a good grip, and then with these massive neck muscles they probably would have thrashed the animals around and torn chunks off," said Mr Martill. "It would have been a bit of a blood bath."
With an estimated weight of between seven and 12 tonnes, the Dorset pliosaur could rival the largest known specimens in the world. The Monster and Predator X, which were found in Svalbard off northern Norway, and the Monster of Aramberri, found in Mexico in 2002, which are believed to have been of similar size
British women 'beaten and raped by two 16-year-olds' while on holiday in Turkey
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 12:53 PM on 27th October 2009
Two British sisters and their friend endured a two-hour rape ordeal during a holiday trip to Turkey.
The sisters, aged 18 and 20, and their 19-year-old companion told police they were attacked after accepting a lift home from a bar in the resort town of Altinkum.
Three males, including two aged 16, offered to take the women back to their hotel in the early hours of Friday.
Holiday nightmare: Altinkum in Turkey, where the British women were staying when they were allegedly attacked
But the men took the women to a remote spot where two of them were raped and all three were beaten.
The victims, who have not been named, were dumped close to their hotel. They reported the attack to police on Friday.
They told officers they had been befriended by the group earlier in their holiday and had then met them at the disco bar.
Police sources said two of the accused, both aged 16 years, were tracked down through digital camera pictures the girls had taken of them the previous evening.
The suspects, identified only by their initials as HE and EK, were questioned throughout Friday and taken before Altinkum Courton Saturday for further questioning by the public prosecutor.
They were later released on bail while police inquiries continue.
Police said a third man, aged 29, wanted for questioning over the attack, is still on the run.
The tourists have declined offers of support and help from British Consulate officials in Turkey
Is this haunting picture proof that chimps really DO grieve?
By Michael Hanlon
Last updated at 9:01 AM on 27th October 2009
United in what appears to be deep and profound grief, a phalanx of more than a dozen chimpanzees stood in silence watching from behind the wire of their enclosure as the body of one of their own was wheeled past.
This extraordinary scene took place recently at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in Cameroon, West Africa.
When a chimp called Dorothy, who was in her late 40s, died of heart failure, her fellow apes seemed to be stricken by sorrow.
As they wrapped their arms around each other in a gesture of solidarity, Dorothy's female keeper gently settled her into the wheelbarrow which carried her to her final resting place - not before giving this much-loved inhabitant of the centre a final affectionate stroke on the forehead.
Chimpanzees appear to console one another as Dorothy is carried to her final resting place in a wheelbarrow
Locals from the village serve as 'care-givers' to the chimps - something hugely needed by the animals who are all orphans as their mothers were killed for the illegal bushmeat trade.
Hunters captured them as young babies, often still clinging to their mother's bodies, to sell as pets.
Until recently, describing scenes like this in terms of human emotions such as 'grief' would have been dismissed by scientists as naive anthropomorphising.
But a growing body of evidence suggests that 'higher' emotions - such as grieving for a loved one after death, and even a deep understanding of what death is - may not just be the preserve of our species.
Chimpanzees - as you can see in the November issue of National Geographic magazine, on sale now - and the closely related Bonobos maintain hugely complex social networks, largely held together by sex and grooming.
They have often been observed apparently grieving for lost family and tribe members by entering a period of quiet mourning after a death, showing subdued emotions and behaviour.
And such complex emotions are not the preserve of primates or even mammals. Just this month, for instance, Dr Marc Bekoff, an ethologist at the University of Colorado, reported evidence that magpies not only appear to grieve for their dead but carry out something akin to a funeral ritual.
In one instance, a group of four magpies took it in turns to approach the corpse of their dead comrade.
Two of the birds then flew off to return with a piece of grass, which they laid down by the corpse. The birds then stood vigil.
In fact, there is a large body of anecdotal evidence that corvids - the group of super-bright birds that include crows, magpies and rooks - engage in many sophisticated social rituals.
But the most famous nonhuman death rituals are those of elephants, who will often spend days guarding a dead body, gently prodding the remains with their trunks and giving the impression of being lost in grief.
Elephants are highly social, long-lived and intelligent animals, whose excellent memory is no myth.
It is perhaps unsurprising that the loss of a member of the clan produces an emotional reaction.
The evolution of human death rituals is lost in the mists of time. There is some evidence that now-extinct hominid species such as the Neanderthals appreciated the significance of mortality, burying their dead and even scattering the graves with flowers.
Seeing a group of chimpanzees, our closest relatives, apparently paying a sad and heart-rending tribute to their much-loved lost sister gives us, perhaps, a window on how this deepest and most fundamental emotion evolved in our own ancestors.
Police find woman's body in barrel in Melbourne's Merola Way
Herald Sun
October 27, 2009 07:47pm
POLICE say the identity of a woman whose remains were found in a barrel will be a mystery until they can comb missing persons files.
A forklift was used this afternoon to remove the barrel and its gruesome contents and load it into a forensics van, the Herald Sun reports.
Pathologists are expected to perform an autopsy tomorrow to determine the woman’s cause of death.
Homicide Squad detective Sgt Peter Trichias said it was a shocking case.
“For the body to be discarded the way it was is pretty gruesome,” he said.
“Early indications is that it is probably the body of a female but we have to confirm that with a pathologist.
“We don’t know the identity of the female or the circumstances of the death.”
The barrel was found in a lake at Jack Roper Reserve last Wednesday and fished out by local contractors.
The business that owns the barrel collected it on Saturday and took it to Merola Way.
Workers noticed a smell emanating from the barrel today and opened it.
The warehouse in which the body was discovered, which is located in an industrial estate, has been cordoned off.
A forklift was used to lift the barrel from inside to building to a waiting forensic van.
Police have now set up a crime scene at the business premises and at Jack Roper Reserve.
Police tonight confirmed the remains are female.
An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death
Pictured: Man tries to smuggle 14 pythons into Norway by taping them to his body
A man taped 14 royal pythons and 10 albino leopard geckos to his body in an attempt to smuggle the reptiles into Norway, customs officials said on Monday.
Published: 10:58PM GMT 26 Oct 2009
Norwegian customs arrested a man who tried to illegally import 14 pythons and 10 lizards by taping them to his body Photo: AFP
The 22-year-old Norwegian was stopped in a routine check by Kristiansand customs after arriving on a ferry from Denmark, the Faedrelandsvennen newspaper reported.
After finding a tarantula in the man's bag, customs officials decided to give him a full body search that revealed 14 stockings - one for each snake - taped around his torso, the tabloid said.
Reptile smuggling is not uncommon in Norway, which prohibits people holding many reptile species as pets, but Helge Breilid, the office manager at Kristiansand customs, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that customs officers had been "horrified" by Sunday's catch.
"Customs officers quickly realised the man was smuggling animals, because his whole body was in constant motion," Mr Breilid told VG.
When the man dropped his pants, the officers found 10 cans taped to his legs, each containing a lizard, he said.
The man was still being held by police on Monday, Johann Martin Kile, the Kristiansand police attorney, told VG, adding that he would be released upon agreeing to pay a 12,500 Norwegian crowns (£1,360) fine.
The reptiles were handed over to a security firm until Norwegian authorities decide what to do with them, he said.
Ga. woman scares off burglar by acting like a dog
Police say Ga. woman scared off burglar by scratching door and acting like a large dog
(AP) ATHENS, Ga. (AP) - Police are investigating after an Athens woman scared off a would-be burglar by acting like a dog. The Athens Banner-Herald reported Monday that the woman scared off the suspect around 11 p.m. Saturday. According to police, the woman got on the floor and began scratching at the door and acting like a large dog when the suspicious man tried turning the woman's door knob.
The police report did not say what specific dog-like behaviors, such as barking, the woman mimicked.
The woman said the man, who appeared to be homeless, quickly ran from the porch.
Police searched the neighborhood for him, but were unsuccessful.
Girl, 17, who 'met man on internet' is found murdered on farm track
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:50 PM on 27th October 2009
The body of a murdered 17-year-old girl has been found on a farm track - hours after she went to meet a man she first met on the internet.
Police officers made the grim discovery after a man who had been stopped for driving offences on the A177 in County Durham led them to the scene.
The 32-year-old revealed that he knew the whereabouts of a body while he was being held in custody, detectives said.
A white tent covers the place where the body of a 17-year-old girl was found by a farm track in County Durham late last night
He then led police to a field close to a roundabout near a Little Chef restaurant.
The girl's body was found at 10.55pm last night and the area was immediately cordoned off. A tent was erected at the scene and a police guard set up overnight.
At a news conference close to the field this morning, Detective Chief Inspector Paul Harker confirmed officers had launched a murder inquiry.
DCI Harker said: 'This is a very tragic case, it came about from a strange set of circumstances.
'A man was arrested for minor traffic offences who then told the police about the scene.
'There they have found the body of a 17-year-old girl from the Darlington area.'
DCI Harker said there was no indication the girl had been sexually assaulted.
He said: 'At this moment in time there is nothing to indicate a sexual element. Forensic tests will tell us that.'
Asked about any injuries to the body, he said there was 'nothing obvious' to show how she may have died.
Police officers guard a leafy area behind a cordon today after erecting a blue tent at the crime scene near where the girl's body was found
DCI Harker urged parents to monitor their children's use of the internet.
He added: 'Speak to them about it, speak to their friends, let them know the dangers of the internet.'
The girl's body was fully clothed when it was found, the officer said.
She has yet to be formally identified, and DCI Harker said that will happen after the post-mortem examination.
Forensic experts in white suits could be seen today walking around the white tent erected in farmland about 300 yards across fields from the Little Chef services.
Mr Harker said the autopsy should reveal how she was killed and the investigation was at too earlier a stage to know a motive.
He believed the body could have been in the field for up to 24 hours.
The man was arrested after checks revealed suspicions about his driving documents, he said.
Mr Harker said: 'We are trying to establish exactly who this is.
'He has given us a couple of different names and we are trying to establish through fingerprints his identity.
'There is a strong suggestion he is from the Merseyside area.'
The teenager was not reported missing to police, the detective added.
DCI Harker said the case highlighted the dangers of meeting people on the internet.
'This is a very, very unusual event,' he said.
'My message in terms of meeting people from the internet is please do not do it unless you are absolutely certain it is safe.'
A spokesman for Durham Police said the teenager from the Darlington area, had gone missing from her home on Sunday night.
Residents living close to the scene spoke of their shock at the discovery of the body.
One woman, who did not wish to be named, said: 'I got home this morning having stayed at my daughter's last night.
'It is almost opposite my house. It is quite shocking. You often get people driving up and down the lane, parking up the top, but you never really take any notice.
'It is not the sort of thing you expect to happen round here.'
Another neighbour added: 'I've just been interviewed by the police. I saw nothing, nothing out of the ordinary.'
Detective Superintendent Andy Reddick, who is leading the investigation, said: 'It is believed the couple may have met via the internet.
'The teenager was last seen by her mother shortly after 7pm on Sunday night.
'She had told her she was staying overnight at a friend's house and would be back by lunchtime on Monday.
'When she failed to return home the mother had repeatedly rang her mobile in a bid to find out where she was but did not get a reply.'
A police spokesman added that no formal identification had been made but police said that they were treating the death as suspicious.
The spokesman added that the body of the girl was still in situ at 9.30am this morning.
Forensics experts and a Home Office pathologist are currently at the scene.
Detective Superintendent Reddick added that police were keen to trace the movements of a dark blue Ford Mondeo car between 7pm on Sunday and 5.40pm yesterday.
The arrested man, of no fixed abode, remains in police custody in Darlington today.
Meet the wiliest of all coyotes: Hit by a car at 75mph, embedded in the fender, and dragged for 600 miles - but Tricky SURVIVED
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 4:30 PM on 26th October 2009
When a brother and sister struck a coyote at 75mph they assumed they had killed the animal and drove on.
They didn't realise this was the toughest creature ever to survive a hit-and-run.
Eight hours, two fuel stops, and 600 miles later they found the wild animal embedded in their front fender - and very much alive.
Wily coyote: The animal's head can be seen as rescuers took apart the front fender to save it after it was struck by the car at 75mph 
'We knew it was bad': Tevyn East, who was in the car when it hit the coyote, bends down to take a look at the fur poking through the fender
And - as if to prove the point - the wily coyote later escaped from where it was being kept to recover.
Daniel and Tevyn East were driving at night along Interstate 80 near the Nevada-Utah border when they noticed a pack of coyotes near the roadside on October 12.
When one of the animals ran in front of the car, the impact sounded fatal so the siblings thought there no point in stopping.
'Right off the bat, we knew it was bad,' Daniel explained. 'We thought the story was over.'
After the incident around 1am, they continued their 600 mile drive to North San Juan - even stopping for fuel at least twice.
Fur Pete's sake: What Mr East spotted as he bent down to inspect the damage to his car - the body of the coyote poking out through the radiator
Miracle escape: As the animal struggled, wildlife protection officials put a loop around its neck to prevent it from further injuring itself
But it was only when they finally reached their destination at 9am did they take time to examine what damage they may have sustained.
At first it looked as though it was going to be quite gruesome.
'[Daniel] saw fur and the body inside the grill,' Tevyn East said. 'I was trying to keep some distance. Our assumption was it was part of the coyote - it didn't register it was the whole animal.'
Daniel East got a broom to try and pry the remains out of the bumper and got the shock of his life.
'It flinched,' Tevyn East said. 'It was a huge surprise - he got a little freaked out.'
The front of the car is completely taken apart as the coyote begins to wriggle free
And voila! Tricky the toughest coyote ever rests in a cage after its ordeal - which it survived with just some scrapes to its paw
The pair immediately phone Wildlife Rehabilitation and Release.
'We could see a little bit of blood, not a lot, and we couldn't see any wounds,' Tevyn East said. 'We didn't know if it was suffering and we should put it out of its misery, or if we could rescue it. But we realized we were going to have to take the front end of the car off to get to it.'
The coyote had been thoroughly embedded between the front fender and radiator of their Honda Fit car - and had amazingly survived the journey without any broken bones or internal injuries.
'It just had some scrapes on its paw,' Daniel East said.
The coyote - which was nicknamed Tricky - became active while trying to escape the car space so, fearing severe internal injuries, wildlife rescue worker Jan Crowell managed to snare a loop around its neck.
Jan took the coyote to a kennel in her yard while figuring out where to release it.
But three days later the coyote saw its chance - and escaped by wriggling beneath the bottom bar of the cage.
'Now it's a local coyote,' Tevyn East said.
'This coyote is amazing. If you look at the front of our car, the grill broke and acted like a net to soften the impact. It's pretty insane ... somehow the conditions were just right for it to survive the trip. We're trying to tell the story to people, to family and friends back home, but people can't wrap their minds around it.'
'We named it Tricky for a reason,' Daniel East said.
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