She is ankle-height and looks cute – but Peggy the tiny Yorkshire terrier is deemed so ferocious by Britain’s Royal Mail that it has halted postal deliveries to the entire street where she lives.
Dubbed the “Beast of Dorset Gardens” after the street’s name, the 15-centimetre pooch is accused of terrorising postmen and neighbours alike in the central English city of Northampton.
The Royal Mail said in a letter to residents that it had halted deliveries to the street since December 7 after Peggy had attacked a postman.
“Because of the dog’s behaviour, he (the postman) believes your mail cannot be delivered safely and in the circumstances I have instructed him not to deliver mail to your address,” the letter said.
Her owners told the local newspaper that Peggy is all bark and no bite.
“Peggy has barked at the postman but she wouldn’t hurt anyone. She is only little,” Kathleen Joyce, 49, told the Northampton Chronicle.
“She has been in this family for 10 years and there is no way we are going to get rid of her.” (PA)
Koran burning
Seven men accused of burning a Koran in a pub car park and posting the video online will not be prosecuted.
Wendy Williams of the Crown Prosecution Service said the majority of people would find the inflammatory incident “repugnant”.
But she added there is not enough evidence to create a realistic chance the men would be convicted of any offence.
Mrs Williams said: “If any further evidence comes to light and is sent to us, we will look at it.”
Police arrested seven men on suspicion of inciting racial hatred after a video recording was posted on YouTube last September.
It showed a group of young men in hooded tops or wearing scarves over their faces pouring petrol on a book and setting it alight.
They cheered as the book burst into flames during the incident in a car park behind a Gateshead pub.
Those involved later told police they did not intend to offend anyone and very few people saw what happened at the time. (PA)
Cooks cell phone
A South Korean has been arrested for allegedly cooking his mobile phone in a microwave and then claiming damages from the manufacturer Samsung Electronics, police said yesterday.
The 28-year-old identified only as Lee is accused of accepting compensation of five million won ($4,500) from the firm after claiming his phone had exploded while being charged.
But the National Institute of Scientific Investigation concluded the phone was “artificially modified” due to exposure to electromagnetic waves in a microwave, police said in a statement.
Lee staged about 50 one-man protests in front of Samsung Electronics’ headquarters and at Incheon International Airport before receiving compensation. (AFP)
Murders son
The nephew of “miracle babies” preacher Gilbert Deya was yesterday convicted of killing his three-year-old son after accusing his wife of adultery.
Paul Otieno Deya was found guilty of the murder of Wilson who was found with a slit throat and slashed abdomen.
Mr Deya, 32, ran after his wife Jackline, 30, and attacked her with a knife after she found Wilson’s body in a bedroom at the family home in Bermondsey, south-east London.
When police arrived at the flat in November 2009, they found Mr Deya had attempted suicide with similar injuries as his son, the Old Bailey heard.
Mr Deya had become jealous of Jackline, accusing her of seeing another man when she had been at the church run by his uncle who acted as his adopted father.
Mr Deya, who worked in the controversial television evangelist’s media department, denied murder. (PA)
Zimbabwe’s voters
Nearly one third of Zimbabwe’s 5.5 million registered voters are dead, researchers have found.
Others appear to be up to 120 years old, vastly exceeding the average life expectancy there of 44.
The independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network says the list should be overhauled before elections scheduled this year.
Their report released yesterday also found that some 40 per cent of voters had moved without updating their voting information.
The group says such problems open the way for “double voting and other rigging intentions”.
Rights groups have accused President Robert Mugabe, 86, and his loyalists of human rights violations and election rigging.
Mr Mugabe has ruled the country since 1980. (PA)