Tough love

A peaceful meadow proved a less than idyllic rendezvous spot for a Czech couple who were run over by a tractor during an amorous moment. The couple picked the meadow near the village of Brníčko in central Moravia because it was dark and peaceful, but it was not to be so for long.

The driver of the tractor took a short cut through the field on his way to a party, riding over the woman's chest and the man's buttocks, injuring both, the local news agency, ČTK, reported. Police charged the tractor driver, who said he did not notice the love-making pair, with the criminal offence of causing an injury.

 

e-Murder

A Finnish man, who police said sent electronic messages around the world about the best way to commit murder without being caught, will go on trial for the death of his father. The 20-year-old is facing a murder charge at the Marienhamn district court in the autonomous Finnish province of the Åland Islands, located in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden.

A report in the newspaper, Ilta-Sanomat, quoted Marienhamn District Attorney Jens Buddin as saying the victim's son, who had been adopted, engaged in vivid discussions with friends around the world about the best way of killing his father without being caught. (Reuters)

 

Girl bites cop

A Belarus court on Friday handed out a suspended prison term to the wife of a prominent opposition politician who bit the ear of a policeman. Yulia Chigir, a 46-year-old lawyer, was sentenced to two years in prison.

Chigir, the wife of former Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir, bit a policeman's ear in May during an altercation outside a court where her husband was on trial for corruption. She said she bit the policeman after he manhandled her. Medical evidence showed that the policeman required stitches.

"In this 'democratic' country I am facing two years in prison for merely trying to lead my sons to an open trial which was to pronounce a sentence on their father," Chigir said.(Reuters)

 

Caught on the phone

Austrian Transport Minister Michael Schmid turned himself over to police on Thusrday, after a television station showed film of him using a mobile phone while driving his car. It is illegal to talk on a phone while driving a car in Austria, and Schmid now faces a fine of USD 18. He issued a statement apologizing for his behavior and said he was a firm believer in the law, but he answered his phone "on a reflex" anyway.

Compiled by Robert Salvato, 20 October 2000

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