Scot accused of £700k Faberge antique heist claims he is 'Lee Harvey Oswald' in court

IN A bizarre rant in court, the accused Richard Tobin told court he was Lee Harvey Oswald, and demanded a cup of coffee.

A SCOT has been accused of stealing more than £700,000 worth of rare Faberge antiques during a raid on an auction house in London.

Richard Tobin appeared in court in London today but when asked to confirm his name said he was Lee Harvey Oswald the man accused of assassinating John F Kennedy.

The 45 year old allegedly stole jewellery and trinkets made by the famous court of jewellers of Imperial Russia from Christie's auction house in London.

Walking into the dock at London's Southwark Crown Court with his white and green striped t-shirt tucked into his blue jeans, he began to shout at the judge.

Asked by the clerk if he was Richard Tobin, the diminutive Scotsman said: "No, I'm Lee Harvey Oswald."

Speaking in a thick Glaswegian accent, he added: "I'm named Patsy" and told the court "I want a cup of coffee".

Despite the bizarre rant, Judge Alistair McCreath said the case could proceed, telling the court: "The gentleman has informed us that he is Lee Harvey Oswald, but I don't think that's right somehow.

"I expect we can proceed on the basis he is Mr Tobin."

Tobin, of no fixed abode, allegedly broke into Christie's in London on Sunday December 7 last year and stole opulent jewellery and carvings made by the famous jewellers.

President John F Kennedy travels through Dallas aboard the Lincoln Continental that had been specially adapted  

He allegedly swiped a three coloured, jewelled gold Faberge clock, worth £125,000 and made in St Petersburg, Russia in 1899.

It is also alleged he took a Faberge Jasmine flower silver gilt, worth £550,000, a gold and silver aquamarine necklace from 1900 and worth £35,000.

He also took a Faberge carved bulldog and a carved cockerel worth £25,000 each and rings worth £20,000, the court heard.

He also allegedly took silver cutlery costing £2,500 and 200 US dollars in cash from a drawer in the office at the auction house's headquarters in King Street near Piccadilly.

Tobin is also charged with breaking into the offices of financial firm Muzinich & Co, in Hanover Street, Mayfair, two nights earlier and stealing a rucksack and a pair of headphones worth £200. 

He is charged with two counts of burglary.

He indicated a not guilty plea and was remanded in custody to appear at Southwark Crown Court on April 2 for a plea and case management hearing. 

The House of Faberge was founded in 1842 in St Petersburg and is most famous for designing opulent, jewel-encrusted eggs for the Russian Tsars. 

The firm was nationalised in 1918 after the Bolsheviks swept to power, and fearing for his life the company's head, Peter Carl Faberge, fled the country.

Source: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/scot-accused-700k-faberge-antique-5023575

Meth-laden drone crashes near US-Mexico border

Police recover bags of methamphetamine from overloaded six-rotor drone as smugglers turn to new technology

Smuggling illicit drugs across international borders can now be added to pizza delivery and targeted assassinations on the growing list of applications for drones.

Police in the Mexican border city of Tijuana said a small unmanned aerial vehicle overloaded with methamphetamine had crashed into a supermarket car park.

It was spotted about two miles from the San Ysidro crossing with California by an anonymous caller.

Officers said they recovered six packets of the drug, weighing more than six pounds, which were taped to the six-rotor remote controlled aircraft.

"It's probable that the drone couldn't hold the weight of the cargo, and that's why it fell," police said in a news release, adding that they had no leads on who was behind the plot.

It is just the latest example of criminals using innovative methods to transport contraband across the border. Previous efforts have included catapults and tunnels.

David Shirk, an expert in Mexican security and justice at the University of San Diego, said it was difficult to see what technology might bring next.

"This is a potentially new threat if it became used in a widespread way," he told the U-T San Diego. "If it can be useful and productive, organized crime groups will find a way."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/mexico/11361825/Metha-drone-crashes-near-Mexican-border.html

Greedy goat gets head trapped in a bag

Buzz the greedy goat gets his head stuck in a bag while trying to eat all the crumbs left at the bottom

Buzz, a Nigerian dwarf goat, was trying to eat the crumbs out of a chip bag on January 17 and wouldn’t give up easily.

He shoved his head further and further in search of crumbs until finally, it got stuck.

Poor Buzz had to wander around the backyard with the bag on his head until his owner heard the commotion and came to help.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newsvideo/viral-video/11361454/Greedy-goat-gets-head-trapped-in-a-bag.html

Cat cuddles up to the statue of her dead friend

Cats and dogs have always been mortal enemies, however if Hollywood has taught us anything it’s that old rivalries can always be put aside in the event of a death.

When a Redditor known only as Noah’s dog died he decided to have a statue of his deceased friend made and hang the now unused collar around it’s neck.

However after bringing the tribute home Noah’s cat did something unexpected.

Upon seeing her fallen enemy the cat cuddled up to the statue, probably reminiscing of the times they had together.

Of course, the moggy’s face is ambiguous, and she could just be gloating that she outlived her rival.

We may never know…

Source: http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/21/cat-cuddles-up-to-the-statue-of-her-dead-friend-5031241/

Leader of German anti-Islam group quits after dressing up as Hitler for Facebook picture

A far-right leader in Germany who heads an anti-Islam group has been forced to quit after images of him dressed up as Hitler surfaced online.

Lutz Bachmann, leader of anti-Islamisation movement Pegida, posted the image of himself sporting the Nazi leader’s iconic toothbrush-mostache and side parting to his Facebook account, where it quickly went viral.

The image was reportedly accompanied with a conversation between Bachmann and a friend, in which he described immigrants in Germany as ‘cattle’, ‘trash’ and ‘scumbags’.

Bachmann, 41, quickly deleted his entire Facebook profile, however due to the outrage caused he stepped down from his position just as thousands of Pegida supporters were expected to take part in a rally in the city of Leipzig.

A Pegida spokesperson said the photo was intended as a ‘joke’.

Many German politicians expressed outrage at the image, and nearly every major German newspaper publication have run it on the front cover.

Sigmar Gabriel, deputy chancellor, condemned Mr Bachmann, saying: ‘In politics, whoever dresses up as Hitler is either a real idiot or a Nazi.

‘Everyone should think hard about following such a rat catcher.’

Source: http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/21/leader-of-german-anti-islam-group-quits-after-dressing-up-as-hitler-for-facebook-picture-5031110/

Haribo stop selling 'RACIST' sweets after social media outcry

The confectionery manufacturer removed the sweets, shaped like black faces, from sale after a Twitter backlash

Insensitive: Haribo told to stop selling 'racist' sweets which 'depict primitive African, Asian or Native American art' by customers in Scandinavia

Haribo have been forced to stop selling 'racist' sweets after a social media outcry.

The black liquorice faces have now been removed from the Skipper Mix bagged sweets sold in Sweden in Denmark.

Social media users have been in uproar over the images which some said reminded them of colonial times.

The company didn't feel the product had "negative connotations".

"We decided that we could keep the product while removing the parts that certain consumers found offensive," Head of Haribo Sweden Ola Dagliden told AFP.

"It wasn't something we saw as having negative connotations."

Uproar: Customers in Scandinavia were not happy about these Haribo sweets

One Danish user, Saam Kapadia, said that the sweets reminded him of Denmark's colonial past.

His tweet, translated into English, read: "Multiculturalism, colonial legacy or the slave trade? #haribo skipper mix makes me think about Denmark and my Danish heritage."

A picture of the sweets was apparently removed from the Haribo Sweden site on Friday.

It is not the first time a Swedish company has had to backtrack over images perceived as racist by customers.

In 2013 department store chain Ahlens sent out a Christmas catalogue to 650,000 households with a picture of two black figures dressed as butlers with prominent red lips.

A company spokesman said: "We have received both internal and external criticism of the picture and have now chosen to withdraw the catalogue from our stores."

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/haribo-racist-sweets-outcry-forces-3034977