My blog will be updated daily, so make sure you come back! If you would like to add or reply to a comment on one of the articles below just send me your comment and, if it's reasonably decent and not libellous or anything like that, I'll add it to the article (don't forget to include the date and title of the article).
25.10.12
Oh, oh Riley!
STRICTLY’S Lisa Riley hopes her twinkle toes will lead her to a new role – as a Bond girl. The ex-Emmerdale actress would love to join 007 star Daniel Craig in his next film.
And she is so keen to get in on the action that she asked fellow Strictly contestant Richard Arnold to put in a good word for her with Skyfall director Sam Mendes.
Lisa tweeted the showbiz reporter at the Skyfall premiere in London on Tuesday, saying: “Does he want a fat girl who’s light on her feet in his next movie?? ASK HIM!!!”
vicious.sid: Oh, oh! You are a lovely person but I think you have as much chance of being a Bond girl as I do of being James Bond! Between zero and laughing their heads off!!! My name is Sid, Vicious Sid (I think that sounds a lot better actually).
25.10.12
'Your offending is off the Richter scale': Judge slams teenage burglar who has raided 278 homes and stole 60 cars since the age of 12
A teenager who admitted burgling an astonishing 278 homes was told yesterday that his offending was ‘off the Richter scale’.
Adam Crampton, 19, was already serving a four-year sentence for robbery and burglary when he decided to ‘clear the slate’ by confessing to all his crimes.
He took police officers on four separate tours to point out properties he had raided. There were 200 in one area of Leicester alone.
At the city’s crown court, he was given an additional five years on top of his current sentence.
Judge Simon Hammond said the number of burglaries Crampton had carried out was ‘off the Richter scale’ when it came to sentencing guidelines, adding: ‘What I am presented with here is a huge number of burglaries. For many people, their homes are never the same again. The effects never leave them.
‘You were a persistent and remorseless burglar. Life is about choices and responsibilities. This can only be dealt with by way of a substantial custodial sentence.’
vicious.sid: What an absolute joke. Was that a deal with the police to make them look good? "Look at how wonderful we are, everybody, we have solved all these crimes!" 30 months for all that lot! How about making him pay each of his victims a couple of hundred quid compensation, taken directly out of his dole money? How I would love the American 'three strikes and you're out' system. 20 years minimum served for the third crime, no matter what it is. These idiots wouldn't be smirking then. Britain is a joke.
25.10.12
Why I dumped ‘crazy Katie’
KATIE Price’s ex Leandro Penna has torn into her over their love split — saying: “I left her because she is crazy.” The Argentinian hunk, 27, hit out despite Katie’s claims that they had ended their 20-month fling amicably.
He said the 34-year-old pin-up, famed as busty Jordan, was driving him mad. He added: “I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”
Raging Leandro fired a scathing parting shot at his ex — insisting: “Her brain is not wired right.”
He told how he stormed out on the couple’s romance because the model was driving him “insane”.
As he prepared to quit her Home Counties mansion and fly home, he said: “I decided to pack my bags and go. There was nothing else I could do.”
Twice-wed mum-of-three Katie said in a statement after the split: “We really wish each other nothing but the very best and will remain best of friends.”
But Leandro put a very different slant on the break-up with a string of caustic comments to a magazine in his native Argentina.
He said: “I left her simply because she is crazy. Katie’s brain is not wired right, or the wires don’t connect properly.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I was thinking it over recently and one day decided to pack my bags and leave.
“There was nothing else I could do. She was driving me insane.”
And Leandro maintained there would be no reconciliation this time — unlike when the couple briefly split eight months into their relationship.
He added: “That’s it, there’s no going back. Katie is totally crazy. What started beautifully in February last year has now come to an end.”
Leandro is now expected to return to South America within days.
vicious.sid: First impressions tells you that this girl has issues - just look at the beach balls she's had stuck on her chest! But seriously, all you red-blooded men out there, if you have ever read anything about her in the newspapers or watched anything on television - WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING OF if you want to get with her??? You are only asking for trouble and, boy, you gonna get it!!!
25.10.12
Why it's never okay to hit a woman
LEAFING through the pages of his daughter’s diary, John Clough’s heart aches with the agony of losing her. The painfully familiar handwriting reveals how Jane Clough predicted her own death at the hands of her violent ex, Jonathan Vass.
Her sad words read: “I’ve been worrying today about Jonny coming to get me, even killing me. What would stop him?”
Vass stabbed the 26-year-old new mum and nurse 71 times before returning to slit her throat and leaving their nine-month-old baby motherless in July 2010.
Unbelievably, new statistics reveal one in ten boys think it is OK to hit women – and two per cent of women agree. The findings emerged from Girl Guiding UK, tracking the opinions of more than 1,000 girls and a panel of boys.
JOHN CLOUGH’S voice is thick with emotion as he says: “I wish more than anything I could have Jane here and be able to watch her grow-up with her own family.
“But that has all been taken away from us because of domestic violence.
“You never think it will happen to someone you love but it did.”
And the 53-year-old admits he is dismayed but not shocked by the statistic about boys thinking domestic violence is OK.
John says: “Regrettably I am not surprised by this poll.
“But domestic abuse should never be acceptable, it is inexcusable.
“Abusers always say ‘I did it because I love you’ but anybody who abuses you does not love you.”
When his daughter met ambulance technician Vass, John and his wife Penny — Jane’s mum — were anxious.
He explains: “We were wary of Vass from the start. Jane loved the person he was presenting to her, she always looked for the best in people.
“But Vass started showing tell-tale signs of an abuser early on.
“He wanted to be in control. We could see he was trying to put a wedge between her and us.
“To watch her change and become cut off from friends was very hard.”
A couple of months into the relationship John, from Higherford, Lancs, discovered his daughter was being assaulted.
He says: “She would come to our house from her home ten minutes away in Barrowford with make-up covering bruises.
“We don’t know when the abuse first started. She didn’t tell us because she didn’t want to hurt us.
“We found out about the abuse just before the baby was born, we knew he had hit her, but for her sake we tried to put it behind us as she wanted to make it work.
“As a parent you only want to protect your children, but we never told her to leave him because he would have used it to fuel the wedge he was driving between us.
“She knew how we felt, but we knew she needed to make the decision for herself. We knew she would do the right thing, because we trusted her.”
John, a signalling technician, then found out Vass had raped Jane.
He says: “It’s a father’s worst nightmare. She told her mum first, then reported it to the police in November 2009, one month after giving birth.
“We were so proud of her for reporting the crime. As a dad it was unbearable to discover.
“He raped her in front of her daughter and that’s when she went to the police and reported the assaults and rapes.
“She ended the relationship and stayed with us.
“He was charged in December, but bailed and she was so frightened and so were we.”
The night the Clough family learned of Jane’s death still haunts John to this day.
vicious.sid: 10% of men? That is a scary thought. I wonder how many of this 10% of the male population (you can't actually call them 'men') have actually hit a man? Probably a very small percentage. Around SIX MILLION males in the UK are beating their women? I imagine it went on a lot fifty years ago, but now? In this 'enlightened' age? I don't know how these people could live with themselves, having someone weaker than them being scared of them, cringing when they hear the key in the door. My father-in-law was a woman-beater and now he's a lonely old man who's going to die on his own because of the way he treated the people who tried to love him. I really, really don't get it. Sigh . . .
25.10.12
Plastic props ban at kids’ Halloween party
KIDS attending a fancy dress Halloween party yesterday were banned from bringing toy broomsticks, scythes and devil tridents after health and safety fears. Community group leaders told parents the youngsters — aged five and under — might hurt each other if they brought along pointed objects.
The ban was put in place despite mums and dads being told that children under four had to be accompanied by a grown-up.
A note publicising the two-hour disco at a primary school in Treuddyn, North Wales, read: “Spooky disco in the school’s hall.
“Fancy dress optional. Under fours must be accompanied by a parent. For safety reasons there will be no broomsticks, devil tridents, scythes etc.”
Local Jo Turley described the ban on the plastic toys as “utterly bonkers”, adding: “Please leave our kids alone and let them be kids. So long as they are supervised, where is the harm in them having Halloween party bits and pieces?” Nicola Jayne Coleman said: “Health and safety is becoming a nightmare, overtaking everything.”
But councillor Carolyn Thomas, who helped organise the event, said: “The children are very young and we just didn’t want them running around with any pointy things. It was to save them hurting themselves or getting upset if they lose the articles.”
vicious.sid: You can imagine in fifty years time: all children from birth in plastic bubbles in suspended animation in steel rooms until they are 21 in case, god forbid, they move and hurt themselves. I think back of when I was a kid (way, way back in black and white days) and the fun we had without the slightest worry about anything - our generation made it (ok, a lot of us were damaged by the weird adults of the time, but we're still alive!). 'Great' Britain is breeding a whole generation of wimps who are going to be too scared to do anything fun in case someone, somewhere in the country gets hurt. This generation will be running the country eventually!!! I shudder to think . . .
25.10.12
Snore, snore, too
SLEEPING pills may have cost England a win in last week’s 1-1 draw against Poland. The players were handed tablets to help them unwind after the World Cup qualifier was postponed for 20 hours because of a waterlogged pitch.
Many had struggled to settle after taking the caffeine stimulant ProPlus before the scheduled game. Glen Johnson said: “We all took that for the game, then the game is off and no one can sleep.”
The disappointing result raised questions over the impact taking such pills could have on performance. But Manchester United’s Rio Ferdinand tweeted: “What’s all the fuss with caffeine/ sleeping tablets? Players have used them for yrs before and after games without any fuss.”
vicious.sid: If that's the case, then they must have taken sleeping pills for every match they've played since 1966!!!! It's attitude, as soon as they slip the England shirt on they are different players. Is it ego? Are they scared of the responsibility? Sometimes the puzzling tactics don't help but they just don't seem to gel, maybe they don't train together enough. Whatever it is, these super duper multi-millionaire Premier players just look very ordinary when they are on the pitch together, as though they don't want to be there. Maybe the answer is to pay every player 250 grand each to play, maybe that's all they're interested in!!
25.10.12
Amy Childs looks a little tubby as she launches jewellery range
AMY Childs looks a little tubby as she poses in a bath at the launch of her new jewellery range. The former TOWIE star, 22, was made to look as if her belly was hanging over her bikini bottoms by the unflattering angle of the shots.
Amy, who is actually a tiny size 8, unveiled her jewellery line at the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair, London, today.
vicious.sid: Whoever wrote this article, it's people like YOU who are destroying children's self-esteem and, ultimately, their whole lives!! She has a perfect, womanly body (maybe the enhancements up top are a bit unnatural but, hey, I could suffer that!) and she looks absolutely gorgeous. I take it that the author is a stick-thin, boobless stick insect. Trust me, this is the look that most men (and women) prefer!!! Now I need to sit down . . .
25.10.12
Council faces £2m bill after underpaying women staff
THOUSANDS of women workers across Britain could be in line for massive payouts following a historic court judgment yesterday on equal pay. A group of 174 former cleaners, cooks and care assistants took legal action against Birmingham City Council.
Women were on the same pay grade as men who worked as street cleaners, binmen, road workers and grave diggers. But they were not paid as much because they missed out on bonuses.
Judges in London’s Supreme Court yesterday gave the ex-employees, named the Abdulla Group, the go-ahead to seek compensation. It could top £2million.
A thousand more female former council employees are now poised to launch legal action.
But the ruling also opens the floodgates for thousands of other women discriminated against in a similar way. Before yesterday’s ruling former staff could only apply for compensation within six months of leaving their job.
The Supreme Court judgment means equal pay claims can be heard in the High Court as well as an employment tribunal — and extends the period to six years.
Birmingham City Council spent an estimated £1million fighting the claims. It has now lost at the High Court, Appeal Court and Supreme Court with seven judges against and only two in favour.
The women claim the money would have been better spent settling their claims instead of fighting them. Former Birmingham City Council home help Joan Clulow, 71, said she felt “absolutely gutted” when the pay gap with men was revealed.
vicious.sid: Good on you, girls. To pay employees in that way in this day and age? Weird. The only down side is that the people of Birmingham had better watch their backs as their council are now going to have to think of new ways of clawing that money back. Expect to have to pay for permits to walk on your pavements, to plant flowers, etc, etc, etc . . !
25.10.12
Contortionist’s bid for more flexibility at work
FEELING overstretched at work? This contortionist certainly does — curling her body over a desk to use a computer with her hands and feet. The bendy blonde shows she really does bend over backwards for the boss in a calendar of office-inspired images.
In one picture, artist Zlata — real name Julia Guenthel — pours coffee with her leg bent back over her shoulder.
Another shows her holding a presentation with her head between her legs.
She also squeezes herself into a suitcase, under a desk and contorts herself on a chair.
Zlata, whose calendar is aptly called More Flexibility in the Office, said: “Most CEOs want to have more flexibility in work from their employees.
“Through my calendar I hope to inspire employees on becoming more flexible and give bosses the right motivation.
“It is my profession to train my body to be very flexible.”
Zlata has been a contortionist since she was 17.
vicious.sid: I refuse to comment on the grounds that I may incriminate myself . . .
25.10.12
Nani: God knows if I’ll stay at United
NANI insists only God knows whether he has a future at Manchester United. The Portugal winger has started just five of United’s 12 matches so far this season.
That sparked speculation he could soon be on the way out of Old Trafford, with Italian giants Juventus waiting to pounce.
But Nani, 25, admitted: “Only God knows what awaits me.”
The £14million signing from Sporting Lisbon six years ago was on the bench against Stoke last Saturday and again against Braga in Tuesday’s Champions League clash.
And he insists that fitness is not the reason why boss Alex Ferguson has been ignoring him.
Nani said: “I am in perfect condition — I am physically good and feeling confident.
“I am the same Nani as always.”
vicious.sid: Wow, going by that headline, old Red Nose has certainly commanded a lot of respect at Manure . . !