Stupid people of the week

Surgeon jailed after amputation of own legs

An NHS vascular surgeon who had his own legs removed has been jailed for two years and eight months for insurance fraud and possessing extreme pornography.

Neil Hopper, 49, of Truro, Cornwall, carried out hundreds of amputation operations before having his own legs removed in 2019.

Truro Crown Court heard he lied to insurers by claiming that injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and not self-inflicted.

It heard that in May 2019 Hopper had below knee amputations after a “mysterious illness”. In fact he had used ice and dry ice to freeze his own legs so they had to be removed, said prosecutor Nicholas Lee.

The court heard Hopper, who admitted two counts of fraud and three of possessing extreme pornography, had a “sexual interest in amputation”.

Judge James Adkin said in sentencing that he accepted that Hopper, who had no previous convictions, was remorseful.

However, the “level of harm” in three videos of body mutilation which were the subject of the pornography charges, was “exceptionally high”, he said.

Hopper had both legs amputated after complaining that his feet were in pain.

He was treated for suspected sepsis before he was told by surgeons that he should have his legs amputated and he was operated on.

He did not tell the medics the real cause of his injuries, the court heard.

The fraudulent insurance claims from two firms totalled more than £466,000 the court heard.

Hopper had been tempted by “greed” said Mr Lee.

He had messaged a friend about the claims saying he should “milk it”, the court heard.

He “enjoyed” the interest from the media in his case, Mr Lee told the court.

“His motivations were a combination of obsession with removing parts of his own body and a sexual interest in doing so,” he said.

“It seems to have been a long-standing ambition of his,” he said.

His feet were an “unwelcome extra.” More at the source; BBC

Man arrested after driving child-size pink Barbie Jeep through Prince George, B.C.

A Prince George man was pulled over by police after driving a child-size pink toy Barbie Jeep along one of the main roads in the north-central B.C. city on Sept. 5.

And on a day that included a hit-and-run involving an ambulance and a prominent downtown business being destroyed by fire, photos and video of the Barbie Jeep quickly spread online with a mixture of humour and disbelief.

Photos captured by several witnesses show Kasper Lincoln wearing aviator sunglasses and cruising down 15th Avenue near Nicholson Street — one of the main thoroughfares.

Speaking to CBC News, Lincoln said he was getting ready to go get a slurpee with a friend but “got lazy” and decided to borrow his roommate’s child’s tiny car to get around, as his friend walked along beside him.

“I never drove it before,” he said while laughing.

In the images, Lincoln is seen driving near the side of a road that’s been closed for construction before turning onto an open side road. Then, an unmarked police cruiser pulls him over and he’s arrested.

Some onlookers were in disbelief.

“You’re really arresting him for driving a kid’s Jeep?” asked Summer Caron, one of the people to film the man being put in handcuffs.

She told CBC News that Lincoln had been driving close to the curb and going “maybe three miles per hour.”

Nikita Morgan saw part of the incident as she drove in the open lane beside him.

“I was cruisin’ down the street, right?” she said in a Facebook message to CBC News.

“And this undercover [unmarked police vehicle] is behind me … so I roll my window down and say ‘Don’t let ’em catch you riding dirty,'” a reference to a phrase popularized by the 2005 Chamillionaire song Ridin’ that refers to driving while taking part in an illegal activity.

She was surprised the police got involved, saying the driver of the little car appeared to be playing it safe.

He didn’t look like he was speeding to me.”

RCMP say they pulled Lincoln over for a traffic stop and, in the course of talking to him, found he had a suspended licence and believed he was inebriated, later verified by two breath analysis tests, which Lincoln also confirmed to CBC News.

Lincoln also said the police told him they had received multiple calls about him, and told him he’d been driving in the middle of the road, which he denied, saying that for the majority of his journey he had been driving on the sidewalk until he saw the blocked off lane.

But none of that information was available to onlookers like Andrea Stirgard, a mail carrier who was leaving a nearby Canada Post office, was with her co-workers when they saw the Barbie Jeep coming toward them.

“We were just kind of watching him, living his best life,” she said of Lincoln. “He was just happy as a clam…. We were actually kind of jealous.”

The police action, she said “seems a bit overkill, but that’s just me.”

“It was honestly epic, I give the guy 10 stars.”

Several memes, poking fun at the incident, have been created and shared on social media, including one depicting the day’s event in the style of the Grand Theft Auto videogame.

But according to police, driving an unlicensed motorized vehicle — even one that’s made for a child — on a road meant for full-sized cars is against the law.

RCMP media relations officer Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said driving an uninsured vehicle is sufficient grounds to make an arrest, especially when combined with other possible violations including impairment.

Kyla Lee, a Vancouver-based lawyer specializing in driving offences agreed with police, saying it is well-established that toy vehicles are not allowed on the road.

“You are required to have a driver’s licence in British Columbia if you’re operating any motorized vehicle on the roadway,” she said. “That includes Barbie cars, toy cars, electric skateboards — anything like that. It is required to have a licence and insurance.”

More at the source; CBC

Minnesota mayor charged with stealing water from city

The mayor of a small northern Minnesota town has been charged with theft after a former city employee claimed he failed to pay charges tied with a second water line on his property.

The Itasca County Sheriff’s Office spent a year investigating a claim that Keewatin Mayor Michael Labine turned his water valve on and off without paying the the city.

According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began in August of last year when a former deputy clerk and public utilities clerk told the Keewatin Police Chief that Labine was stealing services from the city.

The clerk reported the city charges a $100 fee every time the city turns someone’s water on or off, plus another $10 per month user fee.

Labine is the former city crew supervisor and allegedly knew how to use the tool to turn water on and off. The complaint says Labine owns a double lot and turned on the second valve in the spring when his family came to stay in a camper and turned it off when they left. The charges say it continued for more than 10 years. Labine told investigators that he believes the former city clerk is trying to get back at him because of a relative’s poor performance in a city job.

Labine faces two felony theft charges along with a gross misdemeanor.

Source; KFGO

Senator Tim Kaine Tells Americans Their Rights Come From Government

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia, in a hearing on Wednesday, told the room:

“The notion that rights don’t come from laws, and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator… That’s what the Iranian government believes… So the statement that our rights do not come from our laws or our governments is extremely troubling.”

Senator Ted Cruz blasted Senator Kaine’s comments.

So, Senator Kaine said in this hearing, that he found it a radical and dangerous notion that you would say our rights came from God and not from government. I just walked into the hearing as he was saying that and I almost fell out of my chair. Because that radical and dangerous notion in his words, is literally the founding principle upon which the United States of America was created. And if you do not believe me, and you made reference to this Mr. Barnes, then you can believe, perhaps the most prominent Virginian to ever serve, Thomas Jefferson who wrote in the Declaration of Independence: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator’ not by the government, not by the Democratic National Committee, but by God…”

…with certain unalienable Rights.

Senator Kaine didn’t misspeak; he simply revealed the chasm between today’s Democratic Party and the very principles that founded this great nation. If believing rights come from a higher power is “troubling,” then Kaine’s quarrel isn’t with Ted Cruz. It’s with Jefferson, Madison, the Declaration, and America herself.

Source; TownHall

Category: "Teh Stoopid", Crime, Police, Stupid Criminals