Who's taken my fur coat? Vets baffled by bald bears with mystery condition
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:44 AM on 04th November 2009
You'd have thought a fur coat would have been the ultimate bear necessity.
But not for the unfortunate Dolores who has lost all her body hair and has just been left with a few tufts around her head.
Vets have been left baffled by the condition of the bespectacled bear, who lives at a zoo in Leipzig.
Bare-faced: Dolores has a condition which means she has gone totally bald
And Dolores isn't the only one. The sudden hair loss has affected all female bears at the zoo.
Some experts believe it could be due to a genetic defect though the animals do not seem to be suffering from any other affliction.
The bears, which originate from South America, normally have fluffy dark brown fur and would now be growing a thicker fur coat to keep warm during the winter.
Wrinkly: All the female bears at the zoo have the same condition. They have become a bit of a crowd puller
Where's my fur coat gone? Dolores still has a ring of fur around her face. She lethal claws are clearly visible
But instead they have developed nasty rashes and inflammations on their skin.
Unfortunately for the bears, their lack of hair has been pulling in the crowds who want to see want to see the wrinkly animals.
Hopefully the zoo will be turning up the heat in their enclosure.
Full head of hair: These is how Dolores would have looked before she lost her fur. The spectacled bears have a thick, dark coat normally
Young bride spends her wedding night in hospital after being attacked by thugs outside Halloween-themed reception
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:37 PM on 04th November 2009
A young bride spent her wedding night in hospital after she was attacked by jeering yobs outside her Halloween-themed reception.
Lucy Emmingham, 21, was married in black and was taunted about her goth image by the thugs.
The pink-haired 21-year-old was pushed down a flight of concrete steps, punched and knocked unconscious as she and her new husband, Edward, left the celebration.
She was left with a black eye, cuts and bruises and spent seven hours in hospital after the attack.
Attacked: Lucy Emmingham suffered a black eye and grazes after thugs knocked her unconscious as she left her Halloween wedding reception
After treatment, photography student Lucy was given the all-clear to travel. The couple have now jetted off on their honeymoon to Turkey.
The pair were married on Halloween at Sheffield Register Office where Lucy wore a black dress, with a diamante encrusted spider's web wrap.
Her eight bridesmaids were also in black and husband Edward sported a Mohican hair style and black suit.
The wedding party walked a mile through Sheffield to the reception.
Lucy said: 'Our outfits caused a bit of a stir, lots of people were looking at us when we went into the reception and it was great.
'I have always been a bit alternative when it comes to fashion.
'I always said when I got married it would be in black because I wanted a Gothic style wedding.'
Lucy's shocked mother Andrea Moffatt said the trouble began as they left the reception and three men approached them and started to taunt Lucy about her appearance.
Alternative: Newlyweds Lucy and Edward Emmingham pose with bridesmaids on their wedding day, shortly before the horrific attack
She became upset and Edward asked them to stop but they continued to hurl abuse.
A scuffle started, during which the bride was shoved down a flight of concrete steps.
Andrea, from Woodseats, Sheffield, said: 'Most of the 200 guests had already left when Lucy and Edward decided to go on to a hotel where a suite had been specially booked for them.
'As they were leaving three men came up and stood in their way, they then started saying really nasty things to Lucy.
'Edward asked them to stop, then one of them pushed Lucy deliberately.
'She fell, hit her head and was completely out of it for about three minutes.'
The attackers fled before police arrived. The bride was taken by ambulance to the city's Northern General along with her friend Jamie Johnstone, 21, who had to have her lip sewn up after a piercing was torn out by one of the men.
Another guest, a 14-year-old girl, was punched in the back of the head.
Lucy's mother added: 'She has a massive black eye and bruises all over her body. She has also completely skinned her forearms.Those men ruined what had been a wonderful day.
'I know Lucy looks a little different, but to taunt and then attack her just because of that is disgusting. Luckily she was fit enough to travel so they have flown to Turkey on honeymoon.
'This has completely shaken them both up and I only hope they can enjoy the honeymoon.It's terrible what has happened but it could have been so much worse.'
Police are appealing for information .Anyone with information can call South Yorkshire Police on 0114 220 2020 .
Peter Millhouse accused of raping woman by Sculture by the Sea
By Larissa Cummings
The Daily Telegraph
November 04, 2009 04:18pm
A YOUNG woman visiting Sydney's Bondi Beach to see the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition was allegedly raped last night by a homeless man who lives in a cave under a cliff.
Peter James Paul Millhouse, aka Jim Mhiyles or "Jimmy Two Hats," invited the woman to "feed the wild birds" from his makeshift camp site under the northern cliff face just before 10pm, a court has heard.
Last year, Mr Millhouse made international headlines when Waverley Council failed in a bid to force him out of his unconventional digs, The Daily Telegraph reports.
His bail hearing at Waverley Local Court today heard the young woman went voluntarily to the camp, where Mr Millhouse tried to kiss her.
She told him to stop but he persisted and forced her onto her back, pulled down her bikini bottoms and raped her, the court was told.
She later led police back to the camp site, where her thongs and bikini bottoms remained.
Mr Millhouse was charged with sexual assault, resisting police, and two counts of assaulting police.
His legal aid lawyer said both the sexual assault and the issue of consent will be strongly contested.
Magistrate Lee Gilmour refused bail for the protection of the community.
"It's a very strong prosecution case. (Millhouse) returning to that cliff face is not an option," she said.
"Given Sculpture by the Sea and the number of people to frequent the area... clearly the protection of the community rates highly."
A representative from Waverley Council was present in court and indicated that Mr Millhouse had never been given permission to live in the cave.
"Maybe they should've removed him long before now," Magistrate Gilmour said.
The case was adjourned to Central Local Court next month.
3 Missing College Softball Players Found Dead
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Three North Dakota college softball players believed to have been on a stargazing trip were found dead inside a Jeep after signals from their last desperate phone calls helped lead authorities to a rural farm pond.
The vehicle was found submerged in only about 12 feet of water. The cause of the deaths was not immediately known Tuesday when the bodies were discovered. Investigators were scheduled to hold a news conference Wednesday morning. Autopsies were planned.
Police Lt. Rod Banyai said he believed the women were inside the Jeep when they called for help late Sunday night, but he did not know whether the vehicle was under water when the calls were made.
"At this time, foul play is not suspected," Banyai said Tuesday night. Investigators were working to determine whether the vehicle had any defects or whether alcohol was involved, he said.
The victims were Kyrstin Gemar, 22, of San Diego; Afton Williamson, 20, of Lake Elsinore, Calif.; and Ashley Neufeld, 21, of Brandon, Manitoba.
The Dickinson State University students were believed to be in the white 1997 Jeep Cherokee when two of their friends received telephone calls late Sunday night. But the lines quickly went dead.
Police described the first as a "very scratchy" call for help in which one of the Dickinson State University students said they were near a lake and water.
Gemar's father Lenny told Fox News on Tuesday that new information from Verizon helped investigators narrow their search.
"There were calls made from two different girls to two different girls," Kyrstin Gemar's father Lenny told Fox News. "It was very apparent from both calls that there was some kind of an emergency."
Banyai said the pond where the women were found was a couple miles off a road on a farm northwest of Dickinson, a city of 16,000 people. It's about 100 miles west of Bismarck and 60 miles east of the Montana state line.
Banyai said "pings" — signals sent between cell phones and provider towers — from the women's phone calls helped narrow the search area. Searchers found vehicle tracks leading into the pond Tuesday afternoon.
"After that was located, the plane flew over the top and it could see that there was a white object in the water," Banyai said.
The vehicle was pulled from the pond about two hours later.
Gemar's father, Lenny, had said it was not uncommon for his daughter and her friends to go stargazing on the spur of the moment. Tuesday night, Lenny Gemar was among those who attended a prayer service inside a packed Dickinson State student center ballroom.
"It's the worst day of my life. A parent shouldn't be burying a child. Kyrstin had such a bright future ahead of her," he said.
Neufeld's mother, Bev Neufeld, said her family was trying to be strong.
"That's what she would want, and we have so much support here (on campus)," Bev Neufeld said. "We know how much Ashley loved this school. I would just like everybody to remember Ashley's smile and personality."
The 2,700-student university listed Gemar as a senior business major who played third base on the softball team. Neufeld was a senior outfielder working on a psychology degree, and Williamson, a junior, was a pitcher majoring in psychology with a minor in coaching.
"I'm sure it will be difficult for quite a while. But we know that they'll be there with us. They would want us to play," softball teammate Jessica Huseby of Hamilton, Mont., said at the prayer service. "We just know they're going to be the 10th, 11th and 12th players on the field with us."
Police: Colorado Man Stabs Self to Miss Work
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
EDGEWATER, Colo. — Police in the Denver suburb of Edgewater say a man stabbed himself, then said he was attacked by three men dressed in black who were either Hispanic or skinheads, in a ploy to miss work.
Twenty-nine-year-old Aaron Siebers was arrested after police say he admitted making up the assault and said he was responsible for the knife wound to his leg and other superficial cuts on his body. He faces charges of false reporting and obstructing a police officer.
Police say Siebers reported the attack Monday to the video store where he works. The reported assault drew five police agencies to the scene, along with K-9 units.
Police spokesman Steve Davis says Siebers admitted the story was a lie after repeated questioning from detectives.
Pa. Woman, Daughter Hold Signs Admitting Theft
In Exchange For No Jail Time, Pa. Woman, Daughter Hold Signs Admitting They Stole From Girl, 9
AP) BEDFORD, Pa. (AP) - In exchange for no jail time, a woman and her adult daughter have agreed to stand outside a Pennsylvania courthouse holding signs saying they stole a gift card from a 9-year-old girl on her birthday.
Fifty-six-year-old Evelyn Border and 35-year-old Tina Griekspoor stood outside the court for 4 1/2 hours Tuesday. They held signs that read: "I stole from a 9-year-old girl on her birthday! Don't steal or this could happen to you!"
Because the women agreed to hold the signs, Bedford County District Attorney Bill Higgins says he'll ask for probation instead of jail when they plead guilty to the theft.
Higgins says they swiped a gift card that the girl set on a shelf while a Walmart employee helped her.
The girl's mother planned to drive by the courthouse to teach her daughter the importance of obeying the law.
Enormous Jellyfish Sink Japanese Fishing Boat
Monday, November 02, 2009
Pink, slimy and repellent, the Nomura’s jellyfish is an authentic horror of the deep that's been assaulting Japan. Now the creatures have sunk a 10-ton fishing trawler.
The boat was capsized off Chiba in Japan, as its three-man crew was trying to haul in a net containing dozens of huge Nomura's jellyfish. Four years after they last reared their slimy heads, and for reasons that remain mysterious, an armada of the gelatinous giants has gathered in the Yellow Sea off China and the Korean peninsula.
Now it has drifted into the Sea of Japan, and brought down the Diasan Shinsho-maru. One of the largest jellyfish in the world, the Nomura's jellyfish can grow up to 6 feet in diameter and weigh as much as 400 pounds.
The Telegraph reports that the boat's crew was thrown into the sea, but the three men were rescued by another trawler. The local Coast Guard office reported that the weather was clear and the sea was calm at the time of the accident.
Experts believe weather and water conditions in the breeding grounds, off the coast of China, have been ideal for the jellyfish in recent months.
"The arrival is inevitable," Professor Shinichi Ue at Hiroshima University, told the Yomiuri newspaper. "A huge jellyfish typhoon will hit the country."
In 2005, fishermen looking for anchovies, salmon and yellowtail began finding huge numbers of the jellyfish in their nets. When the Nomuras grow larger than a metre in diameter, half a dozen of them can destroy a fishing
net. The fish caught alongside them are poisoned and covered in slime and rendered unsaleable.
So serious was the situation that salmon boats in northern Japan stopped going out, and in some places fishermen lost 80 per cent of their income. Even staff at some of the nuclear power plants along the Japan Sea coast found that the jellyfish got sucked into the pumps which take in sea water to cool the reactors.
No one is sure about the reasons for the slimy plague. One theory is that climate change is heating up the sea water and encouraging them to breed. Another blames effluent from rivers in China, which carries nutrients on which the jellyfish feed. Another blames over-fishing of other species, leaving a surfeit of plankton for the Echizen kurage to feed on
Paedophile to be beheaded and crucified in Saudi Arabia for string of sex attacks where he left toddler to die in desert
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:54 AM on 04th November 2009
Tough justice: The man lost his appeal at a court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
A man in Saudi Arabia is to be beheaded and crucified after he raped five children and left one of them, a three-year-old boy, to die in the desert.
An appeal court in the capital Riyadh approved the death sentence handed down in June by judges in the northwestern oasis city of Hail where the convicted 22-year-old man carried out his crimes.
The rapist - who was not named - was arrested several weeks ago as he tried to seize another boy after offering him a ride home from school.
The seven-year-old - who escaped unharmed - helped identify the culprit.
The man’s victims were aged between three and seven. He was said to have lured them into his car as they left school at midday and then drove them to remote desert locations to rape them.
An investigation was launched after a 25-year-old father reported that his three-year-old son was missing and that he suspected the kidnapper to be a male driver of a white four-wheel drive vehicle.
The infant was later found under a scorching sun in the desert where he had died of thirst.
A panel of three judges in Hail sentenced the rapist to death for “abhorrent” crimes which they said had terrorised the community.
Crucifixion in the conservative desert Kingdom means tying the convict’s body to wooden beams to be displayed to the public after he is decapitated by a professional swordsman.
Saudi Arabia has executed 56 people this year under laws that allow the death penalty for rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.
In extreme cases, the convict is executed and his body crucified in public.
New Mexico Boy Charged With Murder in Father's Death
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An 11-year-old New Mexico boy who police say reported he fatally shot his father because the man was punishing him was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder.
Belen Police Sgt. Joe Portio said evidence supports the murder charge filed by District Attorney Lemuel Martinez's office. He declined to elaborate, citing a request by the boy's attorney, Jeff Buckels.
Police have said the boy shot 42-year-old Bryon Hilburn with a rifle on Aug. 27 while his 6-year-old sister was in the room, then flagged down officers outside the family's home in Belen, about 30 miles south of Albuquerque.
The boy was 10 at the time.
Buckels said he hasn't seen the charges but added: "The whole idea that a 10-year-old boy is capable of committing deliberate murder is preposterous."
The boy remains in the custody of his mother. His name is being withheld because of his age. He cannot face adult sanctions because New Mexico law says a child must be 14 or older to be tried as an adult for murder.
According to a police report, the boy told officers he shot his father because he was upset about punishment imposed by Hilburn. The boy also told police he used his own rifle to shoot Hilburn.
Hilburn was divorced and had custody of the boy and his two siblings.
State Children, Youth and Families Department spokeswoman Romaine Serna said that since 2003, state officials have received nine calls regarding the family on a department hot line used to report possible child abuse or neglect. Officials substantiated only one claim involving the boy's mother.
Serna said the two other children, both under 6, have been placed with relatives. She said a judge will determine the boy's conditions of release, "either keeping him with his mom or placing him elsewhere."
Serna said the department will share "all and any information" it has based on its work with the boy once a judge is assigned to the case.
"This is an emotionally charged case," Serna said. "The goal of CYFD is for this young person to receive all of the rehabilitative services possible, should he be found guilty."
Wife, 28, bludgeoned millionaire husband, 76, to death with a giant pestle after he asked for a divorce
By Mail Foreign Service
Last updated at 12:53 PM on 04th November 2009
The young wife of a British millionaire who bludgeoned him to death after he asked for a divorce has been found guilty of murder.
Nigerian-born Kate Artori West, 28, smashed William West, 76, over the head with a giant pestle used in African cooking, then set him on fire before burying him in a sack.
Reports at the time suggest that Mr West could still have been alive when he was set on fire.
West has been jailed for life after a three-year long trial in Gambia this week. She was, however, spared the death penalty.
Kate Artori West, 28, has been found guilty of murdering her 76-year-old husband William West
Kate West pictured at a police station in Banjul, Gambia, two years ago
William West's charred body was found near the couple's luxury home on the Gambian coast in July 2006 just days into a holiday with his wife of six years.
His wife, a Nigerian national, was just 20 when she married the computer tycoon from Hastings in East Sussex in 2000.
West has been held in custody in Gambia for the past thee years as her trial stopped and started because of legal wrangles.
But today West - who stood to inherit millions from her husband - has been jailed for life.
Gambian cops said that Mr West had died of severe head injuries caused by being struck with a giant pestle before being set on fire and buried in the sand in a black bin liner at the luxury beach resort in Sanyang.
Mr West, who left millions of pounds in his will to his new wife - including a plush £750,000 home in Hastings - is believed to have been planning to tell her that he wanted a divorce during their holiday.
Assistant Police Supt of the Gambian police Aziz Bojang said in July 2006: 'The conditions of Mr West's remains were so horrible. His body was very badly burned.'
He added: 'We are still trying to determine the motive for the killing and there is every reason to believe his wife would clearly benefit through his death.'
He confirmed that Mr West 'could have been alive' when he was set on fire.
West initially admitted the murder, but changed her plea later saying that Gambian police had beaten the confession out of her.
She had told Brikama High Court in Gambia that police had tortured her with electric cable and beat her.
Sitting before Judge Ngui Mboob-Janneh, West told the court earlier this year that she had 'never written a confession', adding: 'After coming back from Sanyang, then they took me to Palma Rima Hotel where there is a police station.'
She said that after arriving at the police station she was tortured into confession, telling the court she had 'electric wire administered to her body' and was beaten until 'blood was coming from her mouth and nose'.
She then alleges that a man in a black uniform from the paramilitary police came into the police cell and beat her up.
She told the court: 'He (the paramilitary policeman) found me sitting and used his boots and pushed me until I fell down and then lifted me.
'I was crying and I did not see them until the next day and I spent the night in the dark room.' She said that when quizzed about her millionaire husband she told police she didn't know where Mr West was.
She said: 'I was asked about the whereabouts of my husband and I replied to the officer that I knew nothing about him.'
West flew home to Britain from Gambia on July 4 2006 - the day after Mr West vanished - and then returned to Gambia on July 19 to report him missing.
She initially claimed he had disappeared after popping into a cigar store on a day trip to Senegal.
Irish-born Mr West, who made a fortune from running his own computer business, was a widower when he met his second wife on holiday in Gambia in 2000. His first wife, Doris, died in 1994.
According to friends of Mr West he was planning on divorcing his African wife and had planned to tell her their marriage was over during their holiday to Gambia.
One source said at the time: 'It hadn't been going well for some time. The age difference was really beginning to show itself and William was totally under the thumb.
'He's said that he was taking Kate on holiday to tell her he wanted a divorce.'
Mr West married Kate just six months after meeting her in 2000.
A police spokesman in the Gambian capital city of Banjul confirmed that Gambia had reintroduced the death penalty in 1996 and that West could have faced the firing squad.
As recently as September and October 2007 two men were condemned to death for separate murders in the West African country.
The last death before that was in 1981 when Mustapha Danso, who was convicted of murdering a commander in the Gambian army in 1981, was killed by a firing squad.
An unlawful killing verdict was recorded at an inquest in Hastings in May
Planned Parenthood Director Quits After Watching Abortion on Ultrasound
Monday, November 02, 2009
Joseph Abrams
The former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in southeast Texas says she had a "change of heart" after watching an abortion last month — and she quit her job and joined a pro-life group in praying outside the facility.
Abby Johnson, 29, used to escort women from their cars to the clinic in the eight years she volunteered and worked for Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas. But she says she knew it was time to leave after she watched a fetus "crumple" as it was vacuumed out of a patient's uterus in September.
'When I was working at Planned Parenthood I was extremely pro-choice," Johnson told FoxNews.com. But after seeing the internal workings of the procedure for the first time on an ultrasound monitor, "I would say there was a definite conversion in my heart ... a spiritual conversion."
Johnson said she became disillusioned with her job after her bosses pressured her for months to increase profits by performing more and more abortions, which cost patients between $505 and $695.
"Every meeting that we had was, 'We don't have enough money, we don't have enough money — we've got to keep these abortions coming,'" Johnson told FoxNews.com. "It's a very lucrative business and that's why they want to increase numbers."
A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood told FoxNews.com that it offers a range of services at it 850 health centers nationwide, providing pregnancy tests, vaccinations and women's health services, "including wellness exams, breast and cervical cancer screenings, contraception, and STD testing and treatment."
"Planned Parenthood's focus is on prevention," wrote Diane Quest, the group's National Media Director. "Nationwide, more than 90% of the health care Planned Parenthood affiliates provide is preventive in nature," explaining that a "core component the organization's mission is to help women plan healthy pregnancies and prevent unintended pregnancies."
But Johnson said her bosses told her to change her "priorities" and focus on abortions, which she said made money for the office at a time when the recession has left them hurting.
"For them there's not a lot of money in education," she said. "There's as not as much money in family planning as there is abortion."
Without a doctor in residence, she said, her clinic offered abortions only two days a month, but the doctor could perform 30 to 40 procedures on each day he was there. Johnson estimated that each abortion could net the branch about $350, adding up to more than $10,000 a month.
"The majority of the money was going to the facility," she said.
Johnson said she never got any orders to increase profits in e-mails or letters, and had no way to prove her allegations about practices at the Bryan branch. She told FoxNews.com that pressure came in personal interactions with her regional manager from the larger Houston office.
But she said she got involved with the clinic "to help women and ... [do] the right thing," and the idea of raking in cash seemed to go against what she felt was the mission of the 93-year-old organization.
"Ideally my goal as the facility's director is that your abortion numbers don't increase," because "you're providing so much family planning and so much education that there is not a demand for abortion services.
"But that was not their goal," she said.
A spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood refused to answer questions about Johnson's accusations, but released a statement noting that a district court had issued a temporary restraining order against the former branch director and against the Coalition for Life, an anti-abortion group with which Johnson is now affiliated.
"We regret being forced to turn to the courts to protect the safety and confidentiality of our clients and staff, however, in this instance it is absolutely necessary," said spokeswoman Rochelle Tafolla.
It is unclear what made Planned Parenthood seek the restraining order. Johnson said she did not intend to release any sensitive information about her former patients at the clinic.
A hearing is set for Nov. 10 to determine whether a judge will order an injunction against Johnson and the Coalition for Life, which has led protests outside the clinic and joined her in a prayer vigil there last month.
Johnson hasn't found a job since she quit on Oct. 6, but she said she's enjoying the time off to be with her 3-year-old daughter.
"It's been great just to spend some time at home and get a break," she said.
Father 'beaten to death with brick by teenage yob after stepping in to calm row'
By Chris Brooke
Last updated at 1:25 AM on 04th November 2009
Brick attack: Craig Wass died in hospital from head injuries he received during an altercation with Ryan Ward, a court heard
A teenage yob used a brick to murder a father-of-four who was acting as 'peacemaker' on a street plagued by violent youths, a court heard yesterday.
Craig Wass, 39, intervened to stop a late night row between his relatives and 'aggressive' youths from escalating when his skull was fractured in an unprovoked attack by local troublemaker Ryan Ward, Sheffield Crown Court was told.
The 19-year-old had earlier been drinking 'for most of the day' with his friends and was heard to say 'anybody who messes with me tonight is going to get coshed'.
He then knocked a young woman unconscious in the street by headbutting her and minutes later smashed a discarded brick into the side of Mr Wass's head.
The sickening blow fractured his skull and Mr Wass suffered another fracture when his head hit the pavement.
Ward fled in a waiting car as shocked relatives of Mr Wass called an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead in hospital an hour later.
Ward had been due to stand trial before magistrates days later for a public order offence over another late night street incident involving Mr Wass and members of his family who lived nearby, the jury heard.
On the night of the murder he was angry with Mr Wass and his sister Tracey for allegedly co-operating with police over the incident two months earlier in which he wielded a knife.
Nicholas Campbell, QC, prosecuting, said on both occasions Mr Wass 'acted as peacemaker' to try and prevent violence and had done nothing to cause trouble himself.
He said the attack happened on the 'spur of the moment' and 'arose out of a volatile situation' in which arguments between residents 'erupted into aggression and then violence.'
Ward denies murder, affray and common assault. Friends Daniel Brammah, 20, and Matthew Hague, 21, all from the Loxley area of Sheffield, deny affray.
On Saturday, May 9 this year Ward had been drinking with friends at his family's home in Phillips Road, the court heard.
They were sent outside by his mother and wandered up the road near the house where Mr Wass lived with his partner Andrea Grundy, 24, and their three children under the age of five. They were due to marry a fortnight later.
Sister Tracey Wass and her partner Craig Allen lived opposite and their parents also lived nearby.
'What happened thereafter was confusing and involved the actions of a number of different people at a number of different locations, although quite close together,' said Mr Campbell.
Out in the street, a struggle broke out between Ward and Nathan Buchanan, the boyfriend of Miss Wass's teenage daughter.
Then Ward headbutted a young woman who confronted him for calling her a 'tramp.'
Tensions rose further when two of Ward's friends threw beer cans and stones and Brammah armed himself with a piece of wood, said Mr Campbell.
Tracey Wass fetched a golf club from her hallway to 'disarm' the youth and a 'struggle' between them followed.
Miss Wass's partner stepped in to subdue Brammah, who found a larger piece of wood as soon as he was allowed to get up, the court heard.
At this point Craig Wass arrived and told Ward off for swearing at his mother, who was also on the scene.
The court heard Ward went off to fetch three bricks and was warned by a neighbour 'why don't you go, just go' as he walked back to the group.
Tragically he ignored the advice. He threw one brick - striking the heavily-built Mr Wass on the forearm but not causing him serious injury.
Mr Campbell said moments later he ran towards Craig Wass holding the brick and while he was 'momentarily distracted' he struck him with a forceful blow to the temple. Mr Wass fell to the ground and was fatally wounded.
Ward was heard to say 'let's dart' and fled with several friends in a car, added Mr Campbell. He was later caught on CCTV outside a nightclub apparently re-enacting the attack on Mr Wass, the court heard.
The teenager was arrested the next day after giving himself up, the court was told. The jury was told he admits striking Mr Wass, but denies it was murder.
The jury heard about a history of trouble in the neighbourhood involving the defendants and other youths making life a misery for local residents.
The first flashpoint involving Ward and his friends took place two months before the alleged murder, the court heard.
They were hanging around outside 'talking, drinking and playing music.'
Tracey Wass was concerned the noise would disturb her six-year-old son and asked her partner Craig Allen to 'deal with the situation', said Mr Campbell.
He asked them to keep the noise down, prompting Ward and Brammah to 'shout abuse' at him, added Mr Campbell.
But stones were then thrown into their garden and the police were called.
Mr Campbell said later that night several of the youths came outside into the street again and one was heard to say near Tracey Wass's house 'shall we put a brick through the window'.
Miss Wass went outside to 'challenge' them and after hearing the disturbance Mr Wass acted as peacemaker to protect his sister.
As he tried to calm the situation, Ward fetched a kitchen knife from his cousin's house nearby, said Mr Campbell.
He walked towards the group of residents repeatedly thrusting the knife through the hedge and telling them 'I will f*** you up'.
But police arrived and Ward was arrested.
Ohio 'house of horror': Body count rises to TEN after four more corpses are found buried in the back garden
By David Gardner
Last updated at 10:41 AM on 04th November 2009
Anthony Sowell has already served a jail term for raping a pregnant woman
Investigators have unearthed four more bodies at the Ohio home of a convicted rapist bringing the total number of corpses found in the grisly discovery to 10.
Today police are continuing their search of Anthony Sowell's house and garden amid fears more bodies may be found.
They are also trying to confirm if a skull that was found on the property belonged to an 11th victim.
Sowell, an ex-Marine, was last night charged with five counts of murder after the badly decomposed bodies were found during a search of his home in Cleveland, Ohio.
He is due in court later today.
At least five of the victims were strangled, at least six were women, and at least six were black. Police have not provided the race or gender of the four bodies found in the house yesterday.
Sowell, 50, served a 15-year prison sentence for raping a woman who was three months pregnant in 1989.
Police discovered the house of horror when he fled after being accused of another brutal rape.
A search warrant was issued after a victim accused him of raping her and choking her with an electrical extension cord.
Neighbours said they had complained for years about the 'overpowering' smell from Sowell’s house.
Six bodies were found last Thursday and Friday. Police with cadaver dogs and heavy digging equipment unearthed the remains of another four women yesterday, according to CNN and local media outlets.
Relatives and friends of women missing in the area gathered for a candlelight vigil in Cleveland last night as they prayed for news on their loved ones
Some of those at the vigil accused police of putting less effort into finding their missing loved ones than they would have had the victims been white
All his victims were thought to be black.
Sowell was arrested about one mile from his house on Saturday.
Relatives of women who have gone missing in the area were anxiously waiting for DNA testing to be completed on the bodies.
The latest rape victim said she agreed to go home with Sowell for a drink and was led to the second floor, which was empty except for a chair, a blanket and an extension cord.
She claimed Sowell punched her in the face, began choking her with the cord and raped her as she passed out.
Six bodies were found at Sowell's house in Ohio, Cleveland last week
Police are continuing to search the rapist's house as they suspect there may be more bodies hidden
Sowell, who served in the Marines between 1978 and 1985, when he was honorably discharged, has not yet been charged with any offence.
Residents and local councillors said they couldn’t understand how police missed the stench when they were called to the house numerous times during the last four years.
Telacia Fortson, 31, vanished in May, leaving behind three children.
‘The last time I saw her, she kissed me on the forehead and said she would be back next week,’ said her mother, Inez, who fears her daughter was among the women found at Sowell’s home.
Police were holding a press conference late last night, but the search of Sowell's property was continuing amid fears even more bodies would be found.
Hell lab
By EMMA MORTON
Science Editor
Published: Today
BUNNIES are wedged into tiny boxes during lab tests for an ANTI-WRINKLE treatment - in distressing snaps that have triggered a Home Office investigation.
A staffer filmed the scenes at Wickham Laboratories, Hants, while working there undercover for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. 
Broken backs ... mice in pain
INS News Agency
The rabbits had Botox-rival Dysport injected in their ears. Mice are also shown with broken backs after testers try to kill them with BALLPOINT PENS.
The Home Office said "urgent steps" were being taken to investigate the alleged cruelty.
A spokesman said: "We authorise animal research only when it can be justified."
Lab technical director Chris Bishop said it was "committed" to animal welfare and working with the Home Office