Revealed: Saturn's secret 'doughnut' ring ... big enough to contain one billion Earths
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:43 PM on 07th October 2009
Saturn's biggest and never-been-seen before ring has been discovered.
The 'super-sized' halo was found by Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope. To get a sense of its size it has a vertical height which is about 20 times the diameter of the planet, which is nine times the size of our planet. Furthermore, the entire volume of the ring could hold about one billion Earths.
The bulk of the ring starts about 3.7million miles from Saturn itself and extends outward about another 7.4million miles.
With it being so huge many will ask how come it was not seen before. This is because the ring is extremely diffuse and doesn't reflect much visible light but its dusty particles, despite being very cold, shine with infrared light, or heat radiation which Spitzer is able to see.
King of the rings: This artist's illustration simulates an infrared view of the giant ring. Saturn appears as just a small dot within the band of ice and dust. The ring's diameter is equivalent to roughly 300 Saturns lined up side to side
This image shows the relative size of Saturn as well as the moons Iapetus, Phoebe and Titan, the planet's largest
The Spitzer telescope is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003. Located in deep space it orbits the Sun. With a 85cm mirror and three science instruments it is able to study objects within the solar system as well as those in the distant reaches of the universe.
Before the discovery Saturn was known to have seven main rings named A through E and several faint unnamed rings.
The thin array of ice and dust particles lies at the far reaches of the Saturnian system, which contains Saturn and its 61 moons. Its orbit is tilted 27 degrees from the planet's main ring plane, Whitney Clavin from Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which manages Spitzer.
Although the ring dust is very cold - minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit - it shines with thermal radiation.
No one had looked at its location with an infrared instrument until now, said Ms Clavin.
Infrared: The Spitzer Space Telescope was able to detect the extremely diffuse ring, which doesn't reflect much visible light
A paper on the discovery will be published later today by the journal Nature.
'This is one super-sized ring,' said one of the authors, Anne Verbiscer, an astronomer at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Saturn's moon Phoebe orbits within the ring and is believed to be the source of the material.
The ring may also answer the riddle of another moon, Iapetus, which has a bright side and a very dark side, a pattern which resembles the yin-yang symbol. The astronomer Giovanni Cassini first spotted the moon in 1671. The dark side Cassini Regio was named in his honour.
The ring circles in the same direction as Phoebe, while Iapetus, the other rings and most of Saturn's other moons go the opposite way. Scientists think material from the outer ring moves inward and slams into Iapetus.
'Astronomers have long suspected that there is a connection between Saturn's outer moon Phoebe and the dark material on Iapetus,' said Hamilton. 'This new ring provides convincing evidence of that relationship.'
The Spitzer mission, launched in 2003, is managed by JPL in Pasadena. Spitzer is currently 66million miles from Earth in orbit around the sun.
Verbiscer's co-authors on the paper are Douglas Hamilton of the University of Maryland, College Park, and Michael Skrutskie, also of the University of Virginia.
Flying high: The Spitzer mission was launched in 2003 and is currently 66million miles from Earth in orbit around the sun
This 2005 photograph shows Saturn up close. The new ring dwarfs those seen orbiting the planet here and starts 3.7million miles away
Girl, 16, stabbed 23 times and left for dead awarded less than £19,000 compensation
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:31 PM on 07th October 2009
A teenage girl who was stabbed and left for dead in a frenzied unprovoked attack has been awarded less than £19,000 compensation for her injuries.
Jessica Knight, 16, was stabbed in the face, chest, neck and back when her attacker pounced as she walked along a footpath when she was aged 14.
Her injuries were so severe she suffered a stroke, fell into a coma and a team of five surgeons worked to save her life.
Victim: Jessica Knight, pictured right in January 2009 and left in 2008 after she was stabbed and left for dead, has received less than £19,000 compensation
But the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority - which can offer victims' up to £250,000 - awarded her £18,895 - or just £821 for each of the 23 times the knife sliced into her body.
Her parents, from Chorley, Lancashire, today branded the award 'a joke'.
Jessica's mother Jill Walmsley, a health assistant, said: 'We just want Jess to get what she deserves.
'It's absolutely ridiculous as she would have been given more than that for falling and banging her head on a pavement if she sued a council.
'If she had suffered the same injuries in a car accident then we would have been talking hundreds of thousands of pounds, but is it right that all she has been through is worth £18,000?'
Jill said she was gob-smacked when she first opened the letter outlining the compensation at her family home.
She added: 'Money won't change what happened to Jess, but it could help.
'What she went through was life-changing, and not only for her, but all of the family too.
'We have to think about Jessica's future so we can't give up. She shouldn't have to struggle because of what happened.'
Attacker: Kristofer Beddar was jailed for life after stabbing Jessica 23 times
Jessica's attacker, French national Kristofer Beddar, is serving a life sentence for her attempted murder.
He stabbed her up to 25 times with a silver lock knife in the unprovoked attack when she was just 14.
When she was found by passing cyclist Gareth Cross she had stab wounds to her face, neck, chest and back.
Jill recalled: 'Five surgeons had to work on Jess as she had a perforated upper and lower bowel, a collapsed lung, and stab wounds to her back.
'One of the wounds cut through muscle in her eye and caused double vision, which she still has now and she will need more operations in the future.
'When she was found, a policeman had to drive the ambulance to the hospital as both paramedics were needed in the back to work on her.
'In normal cases, the first 24 hours are critical, but we were told that in Jess' case it would be the first week, and they couldn't tell us whether she would pull through.'
So bad were Jessica's injuries, that when the huge police investigation was launched to find her attacker, police in Chorley treated the path where she was found as a murder scene.
'Any one of the stab wounds could have been fatal,' said Jill. 'She suffered a huge loss of blood and a stroke, and later the surgeons found further blood clots that were sat ready to go into her brain.
'If they had caused a second stroke then there would have been no coming back.
'Watching what she had to go through was bad enough, and it wasn't until the trial that it was really hammered home just how lucky she had been.
'The compensation doesn't seem to take into account that she was in a coma, and couldn't walk, talk or eat for weeks.'
The community rallied around to help raise £20,000 to send Jess on a trip of a lifetime to Florida to recognise her bravery.
'The compensation is based on her scars and head injury,' said Jill. 'When I first received the form I thought it said £188,950, but when I read it again and saw it was £18,895 I thought "they're joking".
'It's absolutely ridiculous as it is supposed to help her get through life.
'We don't know what the future holds yet - whether she'll be able to work full-time or even drive, because of the effects of the injuries.
'She shouldn't have to rely on other people and have to struggle through whilst Kristofer Beddar is sat in prison with no financial worries - it doesn't seem fair.'
The mother-of-two, who works at Chorley hospital, said the injuries have already had a big impact on Jessica's future as she missed out on sitting her GCSEs.
It means that the talented artist has missed out on studying for a BTEC in art at Runshaw College and instead has to complete a vocational course first.
'None of this has been Jessica's fault,' she added. 'She has coped incredibly well, and looks well, but she wasn't able to sit her exams and was gutted when she wasn't able to start her course.
'Jess is going to need this money and that is why we have to appeal.'
A spokeman for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority said they couldn't comment on individual cases.
He added: 'We express our sympathy to all victims of crime and their families.
'We pay awards under a tariff system set by Parliament that assigns each specific injury a fixed amount of compensation. Awards under this tariff range from £1,000 to £250,000.
'If an applicant does not think their case was assessed fairly, they can apply to have it reviewed.
'If the applicant remains unhappy after the review they can make an appeal to an independent tribunal.'
Cruelty charge after crossbow horse attack
By Andrea Hayward
AAP
October 07, 2009 04:56pm
A MAN has allegedly shot a horse with a crossbow then kicked it to the ground before using his mobile phone to film it dying on a property in Western Australia's Goldfields.
A 30-year-old man from Norseman, about 190km south of Kalgoorlie, allegedly killed the horse near the town on August 1, police spokeswoman Ros Weatherall said.
August 1 is the day acknowledged as the birthday of all horses.
The man was charged with cruelty to animals and failing to ensure the safekeeping of a firearm and ammunition. He was also charged with the possession of unlicensed ammunition.
Police allege the man found a group of horses about 7.30am that day and shot two arrows from a large hunting bow, at one of horses from a distance of about ten metres.
"The horse, which was in pain and shock, received substantial wounds from being shot," Ms Weatherall said.
"The man then kicked the horse with significant force to force it to the ground and filmed the horse suffering and dying."
The vision was seized by police after someone allegedly viewed it on the man's phone and alerted the RSPCA, who referred the matter to local police.
The penalty for animal cruelty ranges from a minimum fine of $2000 and a maximum of $50,000 and five years imprisonment.
RSPCA spokesman Richard Barry said details of the case would "shock the whole of Australia".
"I've never seen anything like this," he said.
The man will appear in the Norseman Magistrates Court on October 21.
Cancer sufferer with six months to live 'kicked to death in unprovoked attack'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:10 PM on 07th October 2009
A terminally ill man was kicked to death in an unprovoked street attack as he prepared to spend his last Christmas with his family, a court heard yesterday.
John Vry, 55, received repeated blows to his head after he was allegedly dragged into an alleyway by James Killingback, 22, and a 16-year-old youth.
Ipswich Crown Court heard how the cancer sufferer died from his head injuries in hospital the day after the attack near his home in Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Defenceless victim: Terminally ill John Vry, pictured with his wife Valerie, was kicked to death in an unprovoked street attack
Mr Vry, a former electrician and newsagent, was diagnosed with cancer in February last year.
He underwent surgery and chemotherapy, but was told in the summer that he only had three to six months to live.
Prosecutor Karim Khalil QC said that the married father-of-three was ‘plainly not a strong man’ by the time of the attack on the night of December 3 last year.
The court heard how Mr Vry left his home to get some chips and called in to the takeaway to check the closing time before going to buy tobacco from a nearby shop.
Mr Vry left the store and was seen holding on to a lamp post for support before allegedly being confronted by Killingback, now 23, and the teenager.
Several witnesses called police after seeing him allegedly forced into the nearby alleyway by the pair who were said to be heavy drinkers at the time.
He was then ‘felled’ to the ground and held down while his head was repeatedly punched and kicked, said Mr Khalil.
Mr Vry's son John, 22, a trainee farrier who went out looking for him after he failed to return from the chip shop, was one of the first on the scene.
He died the following day in the intensive care unit of James Paget Hospital, Gorleston, with his family at his side.
A post-mortem found that he had suffered a severe head injury which had caused brain damage and bleeding around the brain
The pathologist said Mr Vry's injuries were caused by multiple blunt force impact such as kicking or stamping or both.
Mr Khalil said: ‘The pre-existing cancer had no bearing on his death.’
Killingback, of Lowestoft and the teenager, who is now aged 17 and cannot be named for legal reasons, deny murder.
Mr Khalil told the court that Mr Vry had been in no condition to defend himself from the alleged attack by the pair.
He added: ‘For a reason only they knew or perhaps for no reason at all they chose a defenceless victim and literally kicked him to death.’
Mr Khalil said a witness who saw the attackers leaving the alleyway described them as having a ‘swaggering Lowestoft walk’ about them.
Trainers recovered from Killingback were found to have blood and hair from Mr Vry on them.
On the night of the attack, the two defendants called at a flat belonging to someone they knew and Killingback had said, ‘Let us in we've done something stupid’ but had not explained what it was, said Mr Khalil.
Killingback denied being involved in the attack when he was quizzed by police after being arrested
Pensioner who lost part of his skull in car crash 50 years ago stuns doctors... when new bone grows back
By Daily Mail Reporters
Last updated at 7:24 AM on 07th October 2009
A pensioner who had part of his skull removed after an accident in the 1950s has astounded doctors - when they discovered fresh bone had grown back.
Gordon Moore, 72, wore the metal plate to protect his brain for more than 50 years after his car overturned near Berwick, Northumberland.
Three years after his first car accident, Mr Moore found himself in another crash.
This time his vehicle struck a lamppost and he was thrown head-first into the rear-view mirror, leaving a dent in his metal plate for the next 47 years.
Last year doctors discovered Mr Moore's metal plate was poking out of the top of his head.
Skin grafts failed to cover up the open wound, so neuro-surgeons decided to remove the plate. When they got him on the operating table in August, they made the amazing discovery - new bone underneath.
Regenerated: An x-ray shows where the titanium metal plate covered Gordon Moore's damaged skull. Right, Mr Moore, 72, has grown new bone to replace the damage
The whole smashed front section of Mr Moore's skull, from above his eyebrow stretching back to the top of his head, has regenerated.
It is understood there has been only one other discovery of an adult growing fresh skull bone.
Mr Moore, a great-grandfather who used to run a post office in North Shields, Newcastle, was expecting to wait months for a replacement plate.
But thanks to the rare regrowth of his skull, he has been told he no longer needs one and is enjoying a new lease of life.
He said: 'I was amazed when they told me and obviously very pleased at the same time.
Amazed: An x-ray with the plate removed shows where the bone has regrown over the last 50 years
'They took the infected plate out and found I had grown a completely new skull underneath, so they just stitched me up.
'I've been reassured that everything is fine, but apparently it's very, very rare. They were totally amazed.
'I was being prepared to walk around with a safety helmet on for a few months, but now it's just not necessary.
Rare: The scars from where the metal plate were on Mr Moore's head are still clearly visible and the skull has regrown in the same shape as the plate
'Although they say bone does grow through time, it's never half a skull like this. My new skull is the exact same shape as the metal plate.'
He added: 'I've asked if they will give me the plate back as a souvenir, but I haven't received an answer yet.'
Doctors at Newcastle General Hospital said the find was 'extremely interesting' and believe further tests could be carried out on Mr Moore, who now lives in Hexham.
Consultant neurologist Param Bhattahiri was in charge of his treatment.
He said: 'It was a great surprise to find the skull had grown back. You would expect it in a child, but not in an adult, certainly not an area of bone so big.
'I've never heard of anything like this, although I haven't reviewed all the literature on it.
'It's certainly very rare, but it's very rare to remove a metal plate after this period of time.
'We had no idea what we were going to find underneath, but I didn't expect to find a new skull.'
Experts are now waiting to perform more scans of Mr Moore's skull to check the thickness and strength of the new bone.
Mr Moore said: 'I'm very lucky I suppose. I was told the metal plate would last me for the rest of my life. I never expected this to happen.
'I suppose I should be grateful to it because it has made the skull grow back.
'It's very strange to think I've had it in my head for so long, now I have to get used to life without a metal plate.'
Dad to Gang Who Kidnapped Son: 'Just Kill Him'
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
By the third day of negotiating with his son’s kidnappers, Rasul Amoore had sold his car, withdrawn his bank savings and borrowed money from his siblings and friends to raise funds for the 6-year-old’s release.
Even then he was able to gather only $8,000 of the $50,000 demanded by Ahmed’s captors. The kidnappers eventually dropped their ransom to $20,000 — still more than twice the amount at the disposal of Amoore — after the confectionery shop owner in east Baghdad pleaded that their information about his supposed wealth was untrue.
Amoore, angered and mentally tormented by the kidnappers, decided to gamble with his son’s life.
"Just kill him," said the father of four during a heated telephone negotiation with the lead captor. "Just kill him and I’ll consider that I’ve given his soul as a gift to God."
Four hours later the kidnappers released Ahmed unharmed, but only after receiving $10,000.
Kidnapping has overtaken burglaries, robberies, car theft and other crimes to become the biggest criminal activity in many areas of Baghdad. Insurgents and gangsters are increasingly using abducted children to raise funds for terrorism operations and personal wealth.
Thugs attack two transvestites... who turn out to be cage fighters wearing fancy dress
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:18 AM on 07th October 2009
Two thugs who attacked what they thought were a pair of transvestites picked on the wrong men - when their intended victims turned out to be cage fighters on a night out in fancy dress.
Dean Gardener, 19, and Jason Fender, 22, singled out the two men walking along a street in wigs, short skirts and high heels.
Bare-chested Gardener was caught on CCTV confronting one of the men in a pink wig, black skirt and boob tube - then seen swinging a punch, a court heard.
CLICK ON PHOTO FOR FULL VIDEO
Taunts: Dean Gardener, 19, and Jason Fender, 22, are punched to the ground after attacking two cross-dressing cage fighters
But the other cage fighter, wearing a sparkling black dress and matching long wig, sprang to his friend's help, delivering two lightning-quick punches to the two stunned yobs.
The cage fighters were then seen teetering away in their high heels, stopping only to pick up a clutch bag they dropped during the melee.
Gardener and Fender were left dazed and seen staggering to their feet after their failed attack.
Knockout: One of the cross dressers casually feels for his clutch bag before walking away
CCTV cameras followed the pair as they weaved along The Kingsway in Swansea, South Wales, before being arrested by police.
Mark Davies, defending, said: 'You know it cannot have been a good night when you get into a fight with two cross-dressing men.
'Unfortunately they were extremely drunk.
Dazed: The two cage fighters teeter off on their high heels as their two attackers struggle to get to their feet
'They had been out drinking jugs of cocktails and Fender had drunk at least 10 pints of cider.'
Police later discovered the two drag queens were cage fighters on a fancy dress stag night out with other friends.
Both Gardener and Fender, from Bonymaen, Swansea, pleaded guilty to using abusive words and behaviour.
CCTV footage of the attacks was shown at Swansea Magistrates' Court. It shows them fighting with several men before the approach the two cage fighters.
The pair were sentenced to a four-month community order, were electronically tagged and placed under a curfew between 7pm to 7am.
In the light of day: The Kingsway Swansea, where the incident took place
Teen Slips Past Security, Boards Flight Using Mom's Name
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
CANBY, Ore. — A 14-year-old Canby boy was able to slip through security at Portland International Airport and board a flight to Chicago using his mother's name and credit card.
Transportation Security Administration spokesman Dwayne Baird said that the boy — who is 6-foot-2 and weighs about 200 pounds — was asked by a TSA screener if his name was "Virginia," the first name of the passenger listed on the ticket. The boy said yes, was allowed through security and made the flight.
Baird says part of the problem is that minors are not required to show identification to pass through security, although they must have a boarding pass and are screened like all other passengers.
Also, children 11 and older are not required to have an adult escort to the gate, and "there is no government-issued ID for a 14-year-old," Baird told The Oregonian.
Virginia Davis said Saturday's flight was the second time in a week that her son has run away. She said the boy, who has Asperger's syndrome, went missing last Wednesday after she dropped him off at a movie in Oregon City.
When he failed to show up afterward, Davis called police. She said her son apparently spent the night in Clackamette Park in Oregon City before he recharged his cell phone at a restaurant and called her.
Virginia Davis said she believes both of her son's disappearances were manipulated by someone else, noting that he has exchanged an estimated 10,000 text messages with someone purporting to be a Chicago girl.
"But this could be an adult man, for all I know," she said.
She said she is trying to get more help for he son, who has poor social skills because of his Asperger's.
"He got on that plane without a penny in his pocket, with no coat and his old shoes with holes in them," Davis said. "His script of the world is based only on what happens to him in his life. If it happened to somebody else, it doesn't mean anything to him."
Davis contacted the Clackamas County sheriff's office on Saturday morning to report her son missing again. Police entered his name into a database as a runaway juvenile and issued an all-points bulletin.
However, using an AT&T program that Davis bought, phone company technicians were able to locate the teen, who was carrying his cell phone. The program showed he was near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
Davis alerted Clackamas deputies, who contacted Chicago police. Officers met the boy at a baggage claim area and arranged for a free return flight home, courtesy of United Airlines. He arrived back at Portland International Airport shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday and was reunited with his mother.
Man to Be Executed for Murdering Boy, 6, in Georgia Trailer Park
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A Georgia man was sentenced to death Tuesday for molesting and strangling a 6-year-old boy inside a mobile home before the child's body was wrapped in trash bags and dumped near a road.
Jurors deliberated two hours before unanimously agreeing on a death sentence for 61-year-old David Edenfield. He was convicted Monday of aggravated child molestation and murder in the March 2007 slaying of Christopher Michael Barrios.
Edenfield stood passively as the judge read his sentence, and the victim's family silently dabbed at tears.
Edenfield was the first of three family members to stand trial in the case. His wife and their 34-year-son have also been charged with abducting, molesting and killing the boy.
"He got his justice — Christopher got it today," said Sue Rodriguez, the boy's grandmother, smiling through tears. "Now we've got two more to go."
Christopher went missing March 8, 2007, from the Brunswick mobile home park where his father and grandmother both had homes. His body was found a week later by a roadside, wrapped in trash bags.
Edenfield's family had moved into a home across the street from Christopher's grandmother four months earlier. Police found one of Christopher's toys, a Star Wars lightsaber, in Edenfield's front yard. Edenfield's grown son, George Edenfield, was a convicted child molester.
The elder Edenfield confessed to the crime in a videotaped interview with a police detective the day after the boy's body was found.
On the tape, Edenfield said he and his son molested the boy inside their home while his wife, Peggy Edenfield, watched. He said Christopher pleaded with them to stop and threatened to tell his father and grandmother, prompting Edenfield's son to begin choking the boy.
Edenfield told police he placed his own hands on top of his son's as Christopher choked to death.
"Fortunately for us, they had that confession," said Mike Barrios, the boy's father, who had listened stoically to a week of grisly trial testimony. "Christopher's up in heaven. He's smiling down now."
Before jurors began deliberating Edenfield's sentence, his defense lawyers urged them to consider mercy. The attorneys accused George Edenfield of instigating the boy's abduction and killing.
"David Homer Edenfield is going to die in prison, that's a fact," defense attorney John Beall told the jury. "Here's another fact. This beautiful little boy was murdered and will never come back."
Beall and James Yancey Jr., Edenfield's other lawyer, did not speak to reporters after sentencing.
In a fiery argument, District Attorney Stephen Kelley asked the jury to sentence Edenfield to die, saying "maybe he's just rotten from the inside out. ... And his words on that tape were, 'It felt good."'
The judge halted the prosecutor's heated presentation when Kelley pointed at Edenfield and called him an "animal." Edenfield's attorneys asked for a mistrial based on the outburst, but Superior Court Judge Stephen Scarlett denied the motion.
Because of pretrial publicity, the jury was drawn from a community 90 miles away, and the jurors were sequestered during the weeklong trial in Brunswick, 60 miles south of Savannah.
George Edenfield, who is mentally retarded according to his father, is still being evaluated to determine if he's competent to stand trial. Peggy Edenfield would be tried last, according to deal in which prosecutors agreed to spare her from the death penalty if she testified against her husband and son.
Kelley declined to say much about those pending cases Tuesday.
"We've still got a lot of work to do," he said.
Woman Arrested After Exposing Herself to Minors at Florida Football Game
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Police in Florida arrested a 41-year-old woman after she reportedly masturbated in front of several underage football players during a community center game.
The woman, identified as Venus Lewis, was charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition and battery for the incident involving boys under age 16, Ocala.com reports.
Lewis allegedly chased two unidentified male football players at the E.D. Croskey Recreation Center Saturday and told them she'd have intercourse with them if she caught them.
Police said that Lewis, who was drunk, then walked between two picnic tables, lowered her pants and inserted a tampon before masturbating in front of the boys.
Police said Lewis also attempted to grab the genitalia of another underage player.
Lewis has nine previous arrests, Ocala.com reports, including a Sept. 7 arrest for an open container. She is being held at the Marion County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bond.
Girl, 4, 'thrown from 180ft bridge by father looked like a rag doll as she fell'
By Richard Shears
Last updated at 12:10 PM on 07th October 2009
A girl of four allegedly thrown from a bridge by her father looked like a 'rag doll' as she went over the side and plunged more than 180ft to her death, a court heard today.
A witness told how he saw 'hair and limbs' as Darcey Freeman was 'tipped' from the side by jobless Arthur Freeman.
Before the incident Freeman, 36, who today appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court, Australia, charged with murder, allegedly phoned his estranged wife and told her she should 'say goodbye to your children’.
Darcey Freeman: Died after being pulled out of the Yarra River in Melbourne
Prosecutor Gavin Silbert said the former computer programmer then drove his three children towards the city centre, a route which required crossing the Westgate Bridge.
Before he arrived at the landmark, which spans the Yarra River, he is said to have asked Darcey to climb into the front seat of their car.
Freeman then stopped his car, grabbed the little girl, got out of the stationary vehicle and threw her into the water, said Mr Silbert.
Accused: Arthur Freeman was driving over the bridge with his three children
Witness Ollie Nelson said: 'Very clear in my mind is seeing hair and limbs as the child left the hands of the person in question.
'She appeared almost lifeless and there was no struggle or screaming. She was like a rag doll'.
Mr Nelson, the only person who approached the father, said Freeman had 'a completely neutral face. It was as if he was just going about his business.
'I wouldn't say (his demeanor was) robotic at all - he appeared like nothing was wrong. That was the over-riding impression.'
He added that the man made no rush to get into his car as he joined the traffic and drove away.
Mr Silbert said Freeman stopped temporarily when asked to do so by his young son Ben.
'He asked him to go back to get Darcey because she could not swim,' said the prosecutor.
By the time Freeman arrived for an appointment at the Law Courts later, his demeanor had changed, the court heard.
Security guards and court staff said that when he arrived at the court with his two sons he appeared shocked and distressed.
He was carrying his youngest son, who was wearing only a T-shirt and a nappy.
Court counsellor Christine Bendall said he was 'quietly crying. He was rocking backward and forward.
'The father's shoulders were shaking and he had a nose drip hanging from his nose. He couldn't even wipe his face.'
Police recovered Darcey's body from water below the bridge and despite frantic efforts by paramedics she was declared dead in hospital.
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