(no subject)

I have complained before about pisspoor courtroom defences. This woman appears, perhaps laudably but certainly rashly, to have gone for "interesting" over "viable":

Murder verdict for woman who claimed she shot husband during erotic dance

A jury yesterday chose to disbelieve a woman who claimed she had accidentally shot dead her husband while performing a sexy dance as the Shania Twain song "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" played in the couple's bedroom.

Linda West, 49, collapsed in the dock and her family shouted abuse as she was convicted of murder at Winchester crown court. She faces a mandatory life sentence.

The crown said that West, 49, had murdered her husband of nine weeks, Gregory West, 45, as he sat in a chair in their bedroom in Southampton last May. The blast hit Mr West in the heart, killing him instantly.

The jury found that West killed her marine engineer husband after an alcohol-fuelled row, which was so heated neighbours could hear it.

West claimed in court that she and her husband were drunk, and as an act of foreplay she ran him a bath, and then decided to perform a sexy dance to the song by Twain, one of the biggest stars in country music. She claimed her husband wanted her to use the gun as part of her erotic routine, and at the end of the track, she banged the gun on the floor to "take a bow", but the weapon went off.

As part of her defence West re-enacted the events of that night, using a piece of wood as a replica gun.

Official: Finland fictional

Lord Young of Norwood: Thirty or 40 years ago [mixed comprehensive schools] might have been accepted as part of the “Government knows what’s good for you” approach, or perhaps in an ideal world, or in Finland. But we inhabit the real world where there are 4,800 faith schools, and we all know they are not going to be abolished.

Don't worry your pretty little heads

Women! It must be a great relief to discover that Lord Selsdon is on your side:

Lord Selsdon: This is the greatest proportion of women who have ever spoken in a debate in your Lordships’ House, and having a great admiration and affection for women, I feel humbled and fully supportive... My mother happened to be the first woman Lord Mayor, which is where my support for women may partly come from.