News of the World...

Prisoners nearly tunnel out of jail

A gang of prisoners tunnelled out of a Brazilian jail - only to emerge in the prison yard.

The 67 men emerged just 30 centimetres short of Timoteo Prison's main perimeter wall.

They had painstakingly planned the break out but failed to build the tunnel long enough.

As they emerged from the tunnel, they found guards already waiting to take them back to their cells, Jornal da Globo reports.

A police spokesman said: "They were so frustrated and we could not hold our laughter, they were really dumb!"

-Ananova 12th August 2005

Drug dealers hitched lift from cop

Two Romanian drug dealers were arrested when they accepted a lift from a passing drugs squad officer.

Catalin Vasile and Gheorghita Marienescu, both 22, from Targu Frumos, had filled their rucksacks with 25 ounces of cannabis from their own plantation.

They started hitch-hiking on their way back into town when it started to rain - and got a lift from an off duty police officer with the local drugs squad, who soon recognised the distinctive smell.

Policeman Florin Ardelean said: "I saw the two men standing near a field trying to hitch a lift. I felt sorry for them as it had just started to pour down and so I stopped to help.

"I smelt the cannabis on them as soon as they had shut the doors."

The policeman then drove the pair straight to the police station in Targu Frumos.

He added: "It turns out they had been cultivating the drugs for some time in the field and were selling it locally."

The pair are now facing up to five years' jail on charges of growing and dealing drugs.

-Ananova 23rd August 2005

Cow jailed in Colombia

A cow has been put in prison after it was blamed for a road accident in Colombia.

The cow was wandering along a road in Giron when was hit by a woman on a motorcycle.

The woman was not badly hurt but police decided the cow was a danger and 'arrested' it.

Officers were unable to find out who owns the cow and are keeping it in the town's prison.

A police spokesman said: "If it was a person who caused the accident, he or she would be behind bars, so why not a cow?"

-Ananova 19th August 2005