Things that make you go What the F**k?

[lawnseed]

IRA break-in at Castlereagh 'part of murder plan'
Castlereagh police station
The IRA was blamed for breaking into Castlereagh police station and stealing sensitive files in 2002
An IRA raid on a Belfast police station was part of a plan to kill Special Branch officers, a court has been told.

The above is from the BBC website today.
Anyone with half a brain knew that this was bullshit at the time, and it is even more ludicrous bullshit today.  The IRA just walked into Special Branch headquarters unarmed and walked out again with thousands of top secret files.  Bullshit.

i'd check the whereabouts of the people 'in' the files on the night in question

[armaghniac]

Joe will make a great manager ffs

Geez Milltown, that wasn't the point, I was referring to the Children's Group to Tackle Bullying, you'd thing they'd get adults to do it! 

[Nally Stand]

IRA break-in at Castlereagh 'part of murder plan'
Castlereagh police station
The IRA was blamed for breaking into Castlereagh police station and stealing sensitive files in 2002
An IRA raid on a Belfast police station was part of a plan to kill Special Branch officers, a court has been told.

The above is from the BBC website today.
Anyone with half a brain knew that this was bullshit at the time, and it is even more ludicrous bullshit today.  The IRA just walked into Special Branch headquarters unarmed and walked out again with thousands of top secret files.  Bullshit.

And all to start killing branchmen, despite having invested years of hard work into building a peace process! This was just another stroke in the "Save Dave" Trimble/collapse the institutions campaign. Much like the "spy-ring" in Stormont where something like 18 landrovers of cops arrived at stormont, with the TV cameras ready and waiting, to publically raid SF's offices. The seized materials...two CDs. One a backup copy of Windows and the other a electronic copy of an election manifesto. Both of which were discreetly returned within a week and the charges dropped three years later. The juicy footage of the raid was beamed around the world and that's all they needed to achieve.

[BennyHarp]

Mental.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-hunt-thugs-who-kicked-horse-to-death-in-wicklow-29827254.html

[laoislad]

Mental.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-hunt-thugs-who-kicked-horse-to-death-in-wicklow-29827254.html

There was one burnt to death in Tallaght a few weeks back.

[5 Sams]

Popular Irish website leaves out a big chunk of IRELAND in one of their surveys!!!

http://www.joe.ie/tech/tech-news/heres-a-county-by-county-breakdown-of-how-many-people-are-on-facebook/

[laoislad]

Popular Irish website leaves out a big chunk of IRELAND in one of their surveys!!!

http://www.joe.ie/tech/tech-news/heres-a-county-by-county-breakdown-of-how-many-people-are-on-facebook/

Don't worry I'm sure ye will make the UK version.

[deiseach]

A White House Christmas! Starring Nancy Reagan as Herself and Mr. T as Santa. Safe for work, but not perhaps for your sanity. It was acceptable in the 80s'...

[Aristo 60]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-25438408

Mickey Harte's secret winter training takes another step up.

[heganboy]

Laughed my arse off at this one- world's worst Wax museum closes after 50 years.

got famous as the dummies look absolutely nothing like what they are supposed to:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2014/jan/08/worlds-worst-wax-museum-in-pictures

[muppet]

Laughed my arse off at this one- world's worst Wax museum closes after 50 years.

got famous as the dummies look absolutely nothing like what they are supposed to:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2014/jan/08/worlds-worst-wax-museum-in-pictures

Brilliant, looks like the Fab 4 was actually a small Donncha O'Callaghan, Young Bono, Tony Blair and Ronan O'Gara pretending to  Thunderbirds:

[Asal Mor]

Laughed my arse off at this one- world's worst Wax museum closes after 50 years.

got famous as the dummies look absolutely nothing like what they are supposed to:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2014/jan/08/worlds-worst-wax-museum-in-pictures

Brilliant, looks like the Fab 4 was actually a small Donncha O'Callaghan, Young Bono, Tony Blair and Ronan O'Gara pretending to  Thunderbirds:

That's hilarious. Daley Thompson looks like a chuckle brother with a suntan.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/1/8/1389191917964/Daley-Thompson-006.jpg

[passedit]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/09/three-lapdancers-kidnapped-boss-court-hears

Three lapdancers kidnapped boss after he refused to pay them, court hears
Cheltenham businessman tells court he withheld more than £42,000 after women failed to follow rules on non-nudity

    Share 37
    inShare0
    Email

    Press Association
    theguardian.com, Thursday 9 January 2014 19.20 GMT   

Cheltenham town centre
Genteel Cheltenham, where the local Embassy Club was turned into a pop-up lapdancing club during the Cheltenham Festival. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

Three lapdancers and their manager kidnapped a club boss after he failed to pay them more than £42,000, a jury heard.

The women had been hired to work at a pop-up nightclub in Cheltenham to entertain racegoers during the famous Cheltenham Festival in March 2012. Local businessman Curtis Woodman rented the Embassy Club in the Gloucestershire town, which did not hold a lapdancing licence.

Charlotte Devaney 34, from London, arranged a number of girls who would pay £150 each per night to work as hostesses and dancers at the club. Bristol crown court heard the girls signed contracts agreeing to wear "bikinis and nipple tassels at all times" to comply with the licence. When the club opened, however, some of the girls "insisted on taking their clothes off" and the venture was shut down by officials on its third night.

The girls had already earned "considerable amounts of money", including £42,000 from one customer, but Woodman refused to pay them, the court heard. After months of chasing for payment, Devaney, along with three of the dancers – Mandy Cool, 29, Stephanie Pye, 31, and Rachel Goodchild, 24 – travelled to confront Woodman.

The group were joined by two brothers, Alexander, 23, and Robert Morris, 27, and arrived at Woodman's business premises in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. A jury of seven men and five women heard Woodman was kidnapped, bundled into a BMW and driven to a remote field where he was attacked.

Giving evidence in police interview, Woodman said the group had arrived at around 4pm on 3 September 2012. "They bundled me into the car and they said: 'Right, we are taking you off to have a talk'," Woodman said. "Charlotte [Devaney] was shouting at me. They were saying, 'where's my money, where's my money', and I said I hadn't got any money.

"One of the blokes, I would describe as looking like Will Smith or Craig David, he hit me a few times throughout the ordeal. When we were in the car park, the other guy, the tubbier guy, took my Breitling off me." Jurors were told the Breitling watch, worth £4,650, was found in Alexander Morris' anus following his arrest.

During the journey, a Stanley knife carried by Alexander Morris was pushed into Woodman's leg, the court heard. Woodman was allegedly travelling in Devaney's BMW 1 Series convertible, sat between the Morris brothers, with Devaney driving and Pye in the passenger seat.

Cool was following the vehicle in her BMW 3 Series, with Goodchild inside. Both cars drove on to the M5 and left at junction 10. Woodman's phone was confiscated and unsuccessful attempts were made to transfer money using a NatWest app, prosecutor Martin Steen told the jury.

"He was then persuaded to ring the bank and arrange for a transfer using the details of Charlotte Devaney's bank card," Steen said. "£4,800 was transferred into Charlotte Devaney's account."

Woodman was taken 100 metres down an agricultural track before he was taken out of the vehicle by the Morris brothers, it was alleged. "They told him they were going to have some fun," Steen said. "That involved hitting him to the face and kicking him to the face, causing him to bleed. "It was suggested that they should pay a visit to his parents, perhaps dealing with his parents might encourage satisfaction of the debt that was owed."

At around 6.30pm, after visiting a fish and chip shop, the group dumped Woodman on a residential street in Cheltenham. "Woodman was released with threats that if he didn't pay the rest of the money, they would be back," Steen said. Before he was left, the Morris brothers told Woodman to empty his pockets and hand over £60 of cash in them, he added.

Police, who had already been tipped off by a business partner of Woodman's he had called during the drive, traced the two BMWs and the defendants were arrested.

The court was told relations between the girls, Devaney and Woodman soured after the club was closed down. Woodman said one customer, who had spent £700 on alcohol that evening, racked up a £42,000 bill on the second night.

He claimed, however, that the money simply covered costs he had encountered setting up the club, which was closed down due to girls breaking the rules. The club had an entertainment licence, which meant women were not to provide lapdancing or stripping services, save for one night a month.

"The contracts stated that clothes – bikinis and nipple tassels – were to be worn at all times," Steen said. "On the Monday night, some of the girls would not adhere to the rules, they insisted on taking their clothes off. Complaints came to be made."

The following evening, during which the £42,000 transaction was made, the club held the permitted one day of "full entertainment", including stripping services, he said. "On the Wednesday, police and licensing officers paid the club a visit," he said. "The girls were not adhering to the rules. As a result, the club was closed down."

Woodman, in his police interview, said the girls had signed contracts agreeing to forfeit their commissions if they broke the rules, including wearing clothes. "If you have ever asked a stripper to keep her clothes on when she is working, it doesn't happen," he said. "I was constantly bombarding them 'put your clothes back on'." He said the fact the rules were breached meant the girls were not entitled to the money.

Alexander Morris, from Southampton, has admitted carrying a bladed article, namely a Stanley knife, on September 3 2012, the day of the alleged kidnap. He denies a charge of robbery, along with Robert Morris, also from Southampton, concerning Woodman's Breitling watch.

The brothers are also charged with robbery, concerning £60 Woodman gave them from his pocket before his release. They deny the charge.

Devaney, Pye, from Sutton Coldfield, Cool, of Southampton, and Goodchild, also of Southampton, each deny a charge of kidnap on September 3 2012.

The trial, in front of judge Geoffrey Mercer, continues.

[passedit]

   

Julian O'Neill ‏@julianoneill 14m

Famous Crown Bar in #Belfast to close after "unfortunate oversight" has seen its alcohol licence lapse. It's not clear when it will reopen

[johnneycool]

Dandy Dave leaves a hefty tip at the hairdressers......

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/06/david-cameron-barber-mbe-services-hairdressing