The burglar who apologised with flowers: odd news round-up

R U GR8ST?

Cambridge University has launched a competition aimed at finding the UK's gr8st text poet.

University linguist Professor David Crystal wants bards of abbreviation to text their efforts to 07774 017688 .

Prof Crystal has written a book called "Txting: the gr8 db8" and argues that text increases linguistic abilities.

BURGLAR APOLOGY

A burglar who was disturbed by a 91-year-old woman when he broke into her house sent her a bunch of flowers the next day to apologise, police said.

The man broke into the house, in the Spring Hall area of Halifax, West Yorkshire, but fled the property empty-handed after being confronted by the pensioner.

The next day, the burglar sent the woman flowers with a note saying that he thought the house was unoccupied when he broke in.

POSTMAN'S THONG

A postman was caught wearing a pair of stolen knickers after his bosses became suspicious that packages were going missing.

Matthew Furness admitted two charges of stealing postal packages belonging to Royal Mail, on October 1 and December 6 last year.

He was caught in a sting operation after postal bosses found an open package in his van, Weymouth Magistrates' Court in Dorset heard. He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £250 in costs.

CHRISTMAS CANCELLED

A couple who for 20 years transformed their home into one of Britain's biggest Christmas lights displays – featuring 50,000 bulbs – have pulled the plug on the show because of soaring electricity costs.

Bernard and Denise Lumsden say the spike in energy prices – along with the cost of testing their lights for safety – means they can no longer afford the extravaganza in Brislington, Bristol.

A £1,200 electricity bill last year, covering six months, was double its previous figure. And as they have a civil duty to make sure their grotto-like semi is safe for the public, Mr Lumsden said it will cost more than £300 to have each light, decoration, and even the kettle, tested.

SILLY BURGER

A chef became the first person to completely eat a restaurant's special 15lb burger along with 5lb of toppings.

Brad Sciullo took 4 hours and 39 minutes to finish the meal at Denny's Beer Barrel Pub in Pennsylvania.

The burger – called the Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser – includes a bun, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, onions, mild banana peppers and lashings of mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and relish.

MONKEY BUSINESS

A California man tried to use a photo of his illegally-imported pet monkey alongside a Mexican newspaper to fool a court into believing the animal had been sent south of the border.

David Grigorian produced the "evidence" after being ordered to surrender his marmoset Cheeta because he did not have a permit for the animal.

He eventually admitted that Cheeta was in central Los Angeles and agreed to hand it over to federal officials.

JUMBO PUZZLE

An elephant expert whose beach house on the Texas Gulf Coast was destroyed by Hurricane Ike is putting his collection back together – one tooth at a time.

Roy Davis said more than 30 pieces of bone were scattered when the storm struck but already two treasured teeth have been returned after being found on the beach.

The remainder are still out there, he said. "None have shown up yet. They may. If they don't, they turn up 10-15 years from now."

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