Boss jailed after stabbing employee in bottom with pitchfork

Michael Parker lost his temper with Mark Reene and committed five separate assaults, on one occasion attacking him with a chainsaw.

In another incident, the 51-year-old gouged at Mr Reene's eyes and punched him in the face while calling him "thick" and threatening to kill him.

The court heard that the 44-year-old put up with the abuse for six months because Parker threatened to hurt Mr Reene's family if he told anyone about the attacks.

But the final straw came when Parker punched out two of Mr Reene's front teeth and skewered his left buttock with a pitchfork.

He called police and officers arrested Parker, from Godalming, Surrey, in April. He admitted a charge of putting a person in fear of violence and was last night beginning an eight-month prison sentence.

Guildford Crown Court heard that Parker claimed he became violent when staff did not live up to his "very high expectations".

Prosecutor Gordon Ross said that Parker was cutting wood with a chainsaw when he first attacked Mr Reene.

Parker, who was managing director of gardening firm The Larger Plant in Chertsey, Surrey, lost his temper with Mr Reene because he had failed to hold a log straight while he was sawing it.

He lashed out at Mr Reene, punching him several times in the face, before hitting him in the groin with the chainsaw.

Mr Reene needed hospital treatment and a week off work to recover from the beating.
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Beverly Hills doctor powered his SUV using his patients' spare tires.

Liposuctioning unwanted blubber out of pampered Los Angelenos may not seem like a dream job, but it has its perks. Free fuel is one of them.

For a time, Beverly Hills doctor Craig Alan Bittner turned the fat he removed from patients into biodiesel that fueled his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator.


Love handles can power a car? Frighteningly, yes. Fat--whether animal or vegetable--contains triglycerides that can be extracted and turned into diesel. Poultry companies such as Tyson are looking into powering their trucks on chicken schmaltz, and biofuel start-ups such as Nova Biosource are mixing beef tallow and pig lard with more palatable sources such as soybean oil. Mike Shook of Agri Process Innovations, a builder of biodiesel plants, says this year's batch of U.S. biodiesel was likely more than half animal-derived since the price of soybeans soared.

A gallon of grease will get you about a gallon of fuel, and drivers can get about the same amount of mileage from fat fuel as they do from regular diesel, according to Jenna Higgins of the National Biodiesel Board. Animal fats need to undergo an additional step to get rid of free fatty acids not present in vegetable oils, but otherwise, there's no difference, she says. more

A South Carolina man leaped to his death from a freeway overpass

A South Carolina man leaped to his death from a freeway overpass in San Clemente this morning and fell through the windshield of a diesel truck, but the big rig's driver was not injured, authorities said.

The 25-year-old man, whose identity was not released, jumped onto the southbound lanes of Interstate 5 at Camino de Estrella shortly after 3 a.m., crashing through the windshield on the passenger side of the truck. The driver managed to pull to the side of the freeway safely, said Orange County sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino.


The unidentified driver was "badly shaken" but was uninjured, Amormino said.

If the man had landed on the driver's side, "it certainly would have caused another collision and perhaps another fatality," Amormino said.

An investigation by the California Highway Patrol and the Orange County Sheriff's Department delayed traffic on the freeway for a couple of hours.

Couple arrested for having a garage sale

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- A garage sale from a Natchez home gave a couple enough money to move to Louisiana.

One catch, they didn't own anything they sold.

Police say when Jerry and Teresa Dyess moved out of their fully furnished rental home in March, they sold everything at a garage sale. The owner of the house filed a complaint.

When Teresa Dyess was stopped Monday on a traffic violation in Bossier City, La., she was arrested on a grand larceny warrant from Natchez. Jerry Dyess was arrested when he came to bail Teresa Dyess out.

Both were being held in the Natchez jail on $7,500 bond each pending an initial court appearance.

John Costelloe's (Johnny Cakes ) died he was 47

The Brooklyn actor who played Johnny Cakes - the gay-fireman lover of a mob capo on "The Sopranos" - killed himself in a holiday tragedy that has stunned family and friends.
The front door to John Costelloe's Sunset Park home was still sealed with police stickers yesterday, more than a week after the rugged 47-year-old actor committed suicide.
Costelloe, a former FDNY firefighter, shot himself in the head in his basement bedroom on Dec. 16, cops and pals said.
"It's beyond me. This is too much for me to handle right now," the actor's dad, Michael Costelloe, 77, said yesterday.
Firefighter and former colleague Matt Dwyer couldn't believe his friend was gone. more

A Canadian woman who went missing last week in a blizzard has been found alive, lost in almost a foot of snow for four days

Donna Molnar, 55, set off from home in Ancaster, Ontario, on Friday but her car got stuck in a field of snow drifts.
The vehicle was found a day later, abandoned by the side of a road.
By this time, fears for her survival were mounting and it was not until Monday, when police officer Ray Lau was trudging through almost knee-high snow, that his dog Ace picked up the woman's scent.
Officer Lau was stunned to find Mrs Molnar still breathing.
He said: "When I came up to her she was covered in snow, just her face and her neckline was exposed. I was surprised she was alive."
Mrs Molnar was wearing a simple winter jacket and she had been buried in snow just a few hundred yards from where her car had been found.
Police believe the snow's insulating effect was what kept her alive.
Now in hospital, doctors say Mrs Molnar may lose some extremities after her ordeal in the freezing conditions - but she will live. more

'Sopranos' Actor Cleared Of Murder

NEW YORK — A slain police officer's sister reacted with disgust after a jury cleared a former actor on "The Sopranos" of her brother's killing during a botched burglary three years ago.

Lillo Brancato Jr. on Monday was convicted of a lesser charge of attempted burglary. He faces from three to 15 years in prison; the former actor could get credit for time served because he has been behind bars nearly three years.

"What message is this sending out to the New York City police officers today? It's wrong," said Yolanda Rosa Nazario, sister of the victim.

Prosecutors said Brancato, 32, and accomplice Steven Armento broke into a basement apartment to steal prescription drugs after a night of drinking at a strip club in December 2005. Officer Daniel Enchautegui (En-chow-TAY'-gee), who lived next door and was off duty, came out to investigate.

Armento blasted the 28-year-old officer with his .357 Magnum, hitting him in the heart. The dying officer fired back, wounding both men. Armento was convicted earlier this year of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Brancato, who acknowledges problems with drugs and alcohol, said he was unaware Armento, 48, was carrying a weapon. He also argued he did not directly take part in the killing and was not armed. more