Curtains Might Have Been A Cheaper Course Of Action…

Pensioners who spent £100,000 in a failed legal battle to force their neighbours to remove a large lantern have blasted the High Court after losing their appeal. Roger and Margaret Hunt, both 80, launched a private prosecution against their neighbours over a Victorian-style lantern, which Mr and Mrs Hunt insist shone into the bedroom window of their home in Deal, Kent.

And, typically for these cases, it's all someone else's fault that they are now out of pocket. 

Mrs Hunt, a retired school teacher, said today: 'This is just us being picked on – we are lucky we have the means to stick up for ourselves in this case.'

Retired accountant Mr Hunt added: 'We were made to pay £6,000 pounds of costs to them after we lost the initial findings. That is very unusual in a statutory nuisance case, you're normally immune.

'But then when we tried to dispute the magistrates' findings – the costs racked up to over £100,000 including our solicitors. 'The stupid thing is we aren't that worried about losing £75,000 - because we're more worried about what they may do next.'

Truly, a fool and their money are soon parted, and hiring solicitors and going to war with neighbours is one of the surest ways to accomplish that! 

Their son Jonathan Hunt, who is in his 40s, was forced to retire from teaching classics at Winchester College private school due to chronic health issues and moved in with his parents in 2012.

Jonathan added: 'We clearly don't have infinite supplies of money to bring or defend legal actions. We have not been able to stop harassing acts like their spotlights being flashed at us and wind chimes being wrung out.

'Only our solicitors have been able to get them to stop doing things they've been doing. But we don't have endless money and we don't know what to expect next. We just don't understand them.' Jonathan also slammed the advice his family were given. Mr and Mrs Hunt did not initially get legal representation after reading that their statutory nuisance claim could be resolved in court without a barrister.

*sighs* 

And Did Elizabeth Sennett Take A Shorter Time To Die...?

Probably not, since you stabbed her eight times in the chest and once on each side of neck. For money.

He was sentenced to death in 1996 for the murder-for-hire slaying of a preacher's wife in 1988, where he was paid just $1,000 for the hit.

And this wasn't his first rodeo, as it turns out: 

...his previous scheduled execution in November 2022 was called off after painful hours of botched attempts to inject him with an IV line.

Following the failed execution in 2022, Smith sought his subsequent execution to be carried out via nitrogen hypoxia - in an apparent gamble that officials wouldn't follow through with the untested method.

Well, it's tested now! 

Maya Foa, director of human rights organization Reprieve, told DailyMail.com: 'They said lethal injection was humane - that was a lie. They'll claim this execution was humane, and that is a lie, too.

'The whole purpose of these methods is to hide pain. How many more prisoners must die agonizing deaths before we see executions for what they really are: the state violently taking a human life?'

You seem OK with citizens doing it and facing no penalty, Maya... 

That Was Four Hours Wasted, Then...

During the trial at Canterbury Crown Court, the court heard Bissendary even returned to his vehicle to retrieve his cocaine while Mrs Sella was still trapped underneath.

Bissendary denied causing their deaths by dangerous driving, but today jurors returned unanimous guilty verdicts after deliberating for four hours and eight minutes.

Wonder what they did for the four hours? Played 'Eye Spy'? 

Bissendary claimed he was unaware of most of the injured family members and only wished to switch off the ignition. He also claimed he refused to give blood as part of a drug test in the aftermath because he suffers from a needle phobia.

Even by UK defence lawyer standards, that's somewhat pathetic... 

After the verdicts were delivered, Bissendary could be seen sitting down in the dock, taking deep breaths.

Heh! As well he might.  

He will be sentenced at the Canterbury Crown Court at a later date.

Can't wait to see how long he's going to serve. Surely the great British justice system will see he serves proper jail time?

It's Not A Pick And Mix, Ian...

...you can't choose only the bits you like:

Ian West, for Johnson, said despite the breach, the defendant had otherwise complied with the order made in May, attending all but one of 25 probation appointments.

Hmm, so, what was the breach? Oh, just a little matter of possessing equipment capable of accessing the Internet and not telling police about it.

Police visited him at his home and despite his claim that he had no internet accessing device, an X-Box was found in a bedroom.

He was taken to a police station made no comment when questioned, but his ex-partner told officers he had been contacting her by social media via a phone for months.

Whoops! 

Recorder Simon Kealey QC told Johnson it was a “clear breach” of the order imposed only months earlier. He activated 18-moths (sic) of the suspended sentence and added six months for breaching the SHPO, making a total two-year prison sentence.

Johnson was reminded he will remain subject to the ten-year SHPO and sex offender registration.

The British Justice system doesn't like scofflaws.