DEVELOPING A LIFE OF CRIME
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The Hawk is well aware that you don't need many brain cells to be a car thief, but thought perhaps that a minimum of one might be required. It appears not in one case. With his girlfriend in tow, 29-year-old Lee Hosken, of Hartcliffe, Bristol, broke into a Vauxhall Astra which he later trashed and dumped. When the owner, Matt Holden from Weston-super-Mare, was reunited with his car he found that his camera was still intact in the glove department, He had given up all hope of ever catching the thief, and when he finished the film he went to get it developed. Expecting to see photographs taken on a recent hockey tour, he was astonished to see the thief and his girt, messing around in his car. Hosken was even holding the screwdriver he used to break in. Talk about putting yourself in the frame!
Matt went straight to the police who recognised the villain immediately. The snap-happy thief, who had already spent 12 months in custody, was put on probation for two years and banned from driving for two years at Bristol Crown Court. I doubt that Mr Hosken will be so keen to say cheese in future!
BRANDED!
This gleaming silver icon from the world of modern trucking was transported back in time when Isuzu Truck was invited to take part in the ancient traditional Cart Marking ceremony, at the Guildhall in London.
The 7.5-tonne boxvan-bodied truck proudly took its place alongside 38 other vehicles, including an original handcart from 1893, a 1912 Renault taxi and a horsedrawn town coach from the late 1880s. Each vehicle taking part was brought forward for the Master's inspection and then branded with a red hot iron on a wooden plaque fixed to the vehicle, with the year letter and the cart number.
The ceremony dates back to the 17th century, when traffic congestion in London was so bad that entry had to be restricted. How does that saying go? The more things change, the more they stay the same!