(PICS INSIDE) Brave mum poses naked for calender to raise awareness of breast cancer gene

A mother has posed naked in a charity calender to raise awareness of the BRCA breast cancer gene.

Frances Howarth, of Tooting, joined 24 other women who have all had mastectomies to reduce their risk of developing breast cancer.

All of the women participating had discovered they were carrying the mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, which has been linked to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

The BRCA Babes calender aims to raise thousands for charity, while removing the stigma attached to having mastectomy surgery.

Mrs Howarth, 42, said: “We decided to do a calender to help others to say you are beautiful with scars. We were all really nervous when we went in there, it was really liberating when we were done.”

The mother-of-three, who works in Sainsbury’s in Brixton, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, despite having no family history of the disease.

After going through chemotherapy and radiotherapy she was tested for the faulty gene, discovering she was a carrier of BRCA2. She opted for a double mastectomy, with no reconstruction surgery.

Her sister was also found to be carrying the gene and chose to have a double mastectomy.  The calender features the women in tasteful black and white images, in the style of Calender Girls but without the buns.

Visit brcababes.com to purchase the calender. 

Brown University To Host 'Nudity In The Upspace' Week

Brown University is about to play host to a week-long celebration of nudity.

The "Nudity in the Upspace" week goes from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5 on the Ivy league campus in Providence, R.I. The organizers write on the Facebook page the week intends to confront stigmas about the naked body and open a space space for discussions on it, with "All bodies welcome!"

So what will go on at nudity week?

On Tuesday, Oct. 1, there will be a nude yoga class that promises to "stretch your body perhaps in ways that it hasn’t been stretched before." Organizers will provide mats, but ask attendees to bring a towel.

There will be nude cabaret, nude open mic night, nude body painting, personal testimonies about nudity and a panel on how issues like race and class intersect with nudity and body image.

All events will be held in the Production Workshop Upspace in one of the campus buildings. The organizers were clear to note on the Facebook page "absolutely no phones, camera, or bags will be allowed in the space."

Students held similar events during last year's nudity week at Brown, which the creators considered a success. Camila Pacheco-Fores, a then-Brown junior, told the Brown Daily Herald they wanted to discuss what's normally a social taboo.

“It’s been incredible to learn that being naked is just fun!" Pacheco-Fores told the Daily Herald in September 2012. "Penises, vaginas, boobs, butts -- body parts that used to make me feel awkward and uncomfortable before now I just see as another part of another beautiful body."

Organizers told HuffPost in an email that last year's attendees were "extremely respectful, and we haven't had to worry much about our fellow students acting immature at these events."

"Many audience members commented that it had a profound effect on the way they thought about their own bodies and the role that nudity plays in our society on an everyday basis," they said in an email.

Brown's nudity event is somewhat rare among collegiate campuses. Brown already has a Sex Week in March, which is not unlike similar events at other Ivy League schools like Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University -- the originator of the college Sex Week. - Huff Post

(PICS INSIDE) Fun-loving biker asks mourners to pay tribute wearing fancy dress

Superman, Batman and the Honey Monster were among the mourners at a biker’s funeral. Those attending Gary Pattison’s funeral were asked to wear fancy dress to remember their friend, who one said had ‘a wicked sense of humour’.

Also present among the 250 friends and family were Fred Flintstone, a Star Wars stormtrooper and Super Mario. They were greeted at the crematorium by a fire-breather and juggler before a final message from Mr Pattison that asked those who wanted to make a speech during the service to use words such as ‘bacon’ and ‘discombobulated’.

He also wanted ‘what’s left of my savings’ to be put behind the bar, but no Beatles or Paul Weller songs were to be played.

The 42,-year-old, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, added: ‘In the words of Warner Brothers, “That’s all folks!” Enjoy and do me proud.’

The motorbike instructor died five days after he was involved in a collision near Leek on August 26. He leaves a daughter, Becca, 13. - Metro UK

Penis-Shaped Pillars Arouse Controversy

Citizens of Scott Township, Pa., are in a nutty battle over a set of concrete pillars that some people feel look like concrete penises.

The pillars, actually bollards, were recently erected to keep traffic from driving into nearby structures. Four were installed at a bus stop near a church while six others are arrayed across the street, Philly.com reported.

In theory, most locals were behind the idea, but the elongated shape and rounded top of the pillars have aroused the wrong kind of community, according to resident Pat Martin.

"People are laughing at it. They're calling it Penis Road," she told the township commissioners Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

One commissioner, Eileen Meyers, said she didn't see the bollards before they were ordered and conceded that she would have preferred "something more antique"

Commissioner Bill Wells suggested flattening the tops of the bollards might improve the appearance, but officials are unsure of the cost, UPI.com reported.

Other locals don't think town officials should go do something half-cocked just because some people have an issue. One man went so far as to suggest that people need to “get their minds out of the gutter,” according to Dumb As A Blog.

Huff Post

Not the usual household cats! Brazilian family live with SEVEN tigers in their home

ANIMAL-lover Ary Borges was worried about the plight of endangered tigers- so he moved SEVEN of the massive cats into his own house.

The dad-of-three rescued two of the tigers from a circus eight years ago, and has since multiplied the endangered species in his home in Brazil. 

The striped man-eaters now live in a garden sanctuary alongside Ary and his wife and three daughters. The tigers even swim with Nayara, 20, Uyara, 23, and Deusanira, 24, in the family's backyard pool. 

Ary, 43, said: "I was never worried about my daughters co-existing with these animals.

"You have to show the animals respect and love - that's how you get it back from them."

The girls feed meat directly into the mouths of the fully-grown cats as they join their human friends in the kitchen for dinner- and they even lounge around the house in the evenings. Perhaps more shockingly, Ary even lets his two-year-old granddaughter Rayara take a ride on the backs of the predators.

Rayara's mum Uyara, who works with slightly smaller animals in her job as a dog trainer, believes her daughter is perfectly safe with the tigers.  She said: "Rayara loves playing with the tigers - she sees my dad interacting with them and she goes crazy.

"But it's safe. I would never expose her to a dangerous situation. Every day since they were born we have taken care of them and fed them so their instincts become dormant.

"They are part of the family. I can't imagine life without them."

Daredevil Nayara regularly goes swimming with Tom, the 35-stone tiger, to keep him in shape. The baby of the family said: "He wouldn't get in the water with anyone else now - he associates the pool with me."

Read more at Express UK

(PICS INSIDE) See the bizarre vintage vibrators that got Victorian ladies in a lather

They look like old cooking utensils you might find in the back of your Gran's kitchen cupboards. But it seems egg whisks had a far more exciting purpose back in the Victorian era.

This stunning collection of vintage vibrators brought cheeky smiles to the faces of many rich Victorian ladies, proving that sex was in fact not invented in the swinging 60s.

And it seems we have the respectable doctors of the 1890s to thank for the invention of the sex toy as we know it today.

These vintage self-massages were devised to carry out 'pelvic massage' on women as a common treatment in Victorian times for female hysteria.

Doctors found the process of administering massage by hand too tiring and time-consuming so invented these bad boys to do the job for them.

Dr Macaura's Pulsocon Hand Crank Vibrator, resembling an old-fashioned egg whisk, is among the fascinating collection on display at Littledean Jail in the Forest of Dean.

The visitor attraction offers an eye-opening insight into how Victorian women - often too prudish to reveal even their table legs - were more than happy to be sent to heaven and back.

Littledean Jail owner and curator Andy Jones, 51, said: “If you plug them in, the force is incredible. They’re loud and some of them look like hairdryers.

“I would imagine it would have been quite a painful exercise, judging by what I’ve seen of them, like having a kango hammer pressed against your body.”   - Mirror UK

Robbie Fowler apologised after accusing Fernando Torres and Jan Vertonghen were fighting "like girls"

Football pundit Robbie Fowler ­apologised to TV viewers yesterday after accusing two Premiership stars of “pulling at each other like a pair of girls”.

The former Liverpool striker made his controversial remarks on BBC1’s Final Score show while discussing clashes between Fernando Torres and Jan Vertonghen during the Chelsea v Spurs game.

He later apologised, saying: “I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to offend anyone.” His comments were made on the same day that former Radio 4 newsreader Charlotte Green became the first female to read the classified football results on BBC Radio 5 live.

Angry viewers took to Twitter suggesting that Fowler, 38, was being derogatory about women’s football. Celebrity publicist Mark Borkowski wrote: “Robbie Fowler eating humble pie for dissing women’s football on #BBCFinalScore. ­Charlotte Green 10 v sexist git 0. New pundit in the wings.”

But others tweeted in support of the former England player, and criticised the BBC for being too politically correct.

Graham Neaves wrote: “I’m no Robbie Fowler apologist but why was he made to apologise like an errant schoolboy? The world is going mad with its sensitivities.”

Sources said the BBC had received “numerous” complaints. A spokeswoman said: “Robbie made a comment during the live studio chat and was concerned it may have caused offence, so decided to make an apology before the end of the show.”

Mirror UK

Man cheats death by millimetres after lodging pickaxe in his skull

A man working in his garden cheated death by millimetres after he swung a pickaxe which bounced off the washing line and flew into his forehead, entering his skull.

Sheldon Mpofu, 37, was turning soil when he swung the massive tool but hit his washing line on the way down. The pick-axe swung back and the pointed end hit him in the middle of the head, missing his brain and entering a sinus - an empty space in the skull.

Despite his injury he still took a bus to hospital where doctors were stunned the pickaxe had not killed him.

Medics did not immediately realise how serious the injury was but an X-ray and CT scan showed how far the tool had penetrated. Sheldon, of Morley, West Yorkshire, said: ''They said there are sinuses in the forehead which are essentially empty spaces. It was just a few millimetres from entering my brain.

"How it didn't go through was amazing. They told me I was a celebrity around the hospital. The doctor said 'do you realise how lucky you are?'. Everyone was telling me I'd been so lucky." After the accident, and with blood pouring from his head, Mr Mpofu called the non-emergency NHS 111 number for advice.

They told him an ambulance was not necessary but he should go to hospital within an hour, so he bandaged the wound and took a bus to St James's Hospital in Leeds.

He was transferred to Leeds General Infirmary by ambulance where specialists in the field are based.

Mr Mpofu had five stitches under local anaesthetic and was kept in hospital overnight and given antibiotics and a tetanus injection. He said a string of doctors came to see him after hearing about his unbelievable escape. He has been suffering headaches but the wound is healing well and he has been told he does not need an operation.

He added: "I feel like I've had a second lease of life. It's made me value life because anything can happen. I will definitely use my pickaxe again - but very carefully.

"It still amazes me. We are short of miracles. I'm a Christian and I want to let people out there know that miracles can happen."

Telegraph

Delighted dad kisses his wife Louise for the first time in four years – after being cured of a terrifying condition

A squashed nerve had meant the slightest touch on his face caused agony. Now surgeons have inserted Teflon in his skull to stop contact with a nearby artery which sparked the spasms.

Happier Mark and his wife

Pain from Trigeminal Neuralgia, which affects 12 out of 100,000 people in the UK each year, is so intense nearly a third of victims resort to suicide.

Relieved father-of-three Mark, a probation officer, said: “I can’t say how wonderful it is to kiss Louise and my kids again.

“The disease destroyed my life, the pain is so debilitating you can’t do anything.

“Once I was at my parents’ house for dinner and before the spoon even got to my mouth I was on the floor in agony.

"It feels like you have been hit in the face with a bolt of lightning, or at it’s worst like a whole thunder storm has hit you.

“There were up to 250 attacks a day. Sometimes the pain would drop me to my knees, other times it would feel like all of my teeth on the right hand side were on fire.

"I had to take 50 pills a day which left me like a zombie.”

Mark, 38, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, was left unable to go outside or even wash his face after being diagnosed with the condition in 2009.

But the gruelling six- hour operation at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, should leave him free of pain for at least 10 years.

Louise, 35, said: “I can’t describe how good it is to have my husband back. I can’t stop kissing Mark now.”

Mirror.co.uk 

Morgue Worker Notices Crash Victim Is Still Alive

A 72-year-old car crash victim had been in a German morgue for several hours Monday when a worker there noticed something odd: She was still breathing. The woman was injured when her 18-year-old grandson veered into oncoming traffic on a highway about 35 miles north of Hamburg. The resulting crash killed the woman's daughter, who had been in the back with her four sons, the youngest of whom also died; paramedics believed the grandmother had suffered the same fate. Unable to find any signs of life, they assumed she'd died of head trauma, the Local reports.

"What exactly happened next, no one knows," says a hospital spokesperson. When the morgue worker realized they were wrong, the woman was rushed to the hospital, where she was operated on for four hours. She is currently in a coma.

NEWSER

Psychic accused of planting man in attic during ghost tour

A psychic has been accused of hiding a man in an attic to make knocking noises on the ceiling during a hotel “ghost tour”.

Chris Date

Chris Date, a paranormal medium, is alleged to have rapidly driven away from the scene after suspicious staff who hung around after his tour spotted a man climbing down from the roof. The 38-year-old, who calls himself Knight Guider, tells guests who pay £12-a-head for the ghost hunt that he can contact the spirit world.

During a recent tour of the “haunted” Halfway Hotel in Llanelli, South Wales, 14 people paid to join him in trying to contact the spirit world. The ghost hunters were led into the hotel stables where Mr Date asked a spirit to knock twice in answer to a question. The guests were hushed as two ghostly knocks were heard coming from the ceiling above.

Hotel owner Paul Francis, 33, said: "A member of staff and a member of the public wanted to see if someone came down from the attic where the knocking was coming from.

"Twenty minutes went by and then this guy jumped down.

"Our staff grabbed the guy and threw him out."

Guest Mike Grimble, 43, said the man claimed he was homeless and had nothing to do with the spooky sounds but was wearing "designer jeans".

Mr Date denied having any link to the mystery man in the attic and said: "I'm disgusted by it."

“It was nothing to do with me, that is one of the reasons that I left,” he said. "The knocking did not sound like what I am used to. I said on several occasions that it was odd, the noise was too extreme. "I have got a very good track record. It's disgusting, I would never do that.

"I take what I am doing very seriously. It was a ghost hunt. No mediumship was promised – it's a fun ghost tour around the hotel." However, Mr Grimble remained sceptical, adding: "In life the only certainty, other than being born, is death.

"Billions of people have a religion and they are all looking for the same thing – that there's something else after death.

"People who are looking for answers could be vulnerable."

Mr Date's website describes him as "a great intuitive reader who speaks from the heart."

It tells potential customers: "If you are lost and need to find your way again or if you need reassurance then a reading from Knight Guider is for you.

"A male medium with a strong spiritual guide who comes forward to help enable connections with those who have passed over."

Telegraph

Two-year-old escapes nursery on her third day and walks half a mile home on her OWN

A two-year-old girl escaped from a nursery and walked half a mile back home after an alarming safety breach. Little Louise Hilton was able to leave the pre-school and walk unaided to her home even crossing roads during her 20-minute journey.

Louise with her mother, Samantha

The tot’s solo journey took her past a pub, through two underground subways, woodland and past a canal, but still no passer-by stopped her. Louise waddled back through her front door where she told her astonished mother Samantha: “I have walked home on my own, aren’t I a big girl?”

Samantha, 30, who had dropped her daughter off hours earlier, was preparing to pick up Louise at 2.30pm when she answered the door to the youngster at 1.50pm. Police in Runcorn, Cheshire, are now probing the incident yesterday as her father John furiously blasted the nursery for refusing to apologise to them.

The breach happened on only Louise’s third day at the nursery and her parents have vowed she will not return to Windmill Hill Nursery again. Her father John Hilton said: “It is frightening to think what might of happened had the wrong person seen her.

“There is a canal 50 yards from the house and she always tries to jump in and feed the ducks when we go past but she cannot swim.

Little Louise Hilton

“The school has not given me an apology and I have contacted the appropriate authorities as I just want every child who goes to that school to be safe.” Mother Samantha added: “Thank God she made it home safely. The security and staff at the nursery are a total shambles.

“She is quite bright and we think she’s spotted a door that was left open and she could get out.

“But the staff at the nursery must be more alert, surely there should be more security in place to stop the kids wandering off.” The family believe Louise went to the toilet unsupervised and walked out of a fire exit which failed to sound an alarm.

Cheshire Police said they were aware of the incident and said early investigations suggested “the child escaped after workmen left a door open”. The police have referred the matter to Halton Council who have notified Ofsted.

A Halton council spokesman added: “We have been providing advice and support to the nursery following notification of the incident.”

A nursery spokesman said: “I have no comment to make.”

An Ofsted spokesman said: “Ofsted takes all safeguarding issues very seriously.

“We are aware of this issue and are now working with the nursery to ensure that children are kept safe at all times.

“It would be inappropriate at this stage to make any further comments as investigations are ongoing.”

Mirror

Currys job applicants forced into DANCE-OFF to Daft Punk song for sales assistant role

A university graduate has told of his ‘humiliation’ after being forced to do a David Brent-style dance during a job interview at Currys. The company has been forced to apologise after jobseekers were asked to dance to a song by Daft Punk at their Cardiff megastore.

Alan Bacon

Alan Bacon was initially delighted to be offered an interview after handing in a CV after recently completing a degree from the University of South Wales. But the 21-year-old, who has applied for more than 300 jobs since graduating, was left incredulous after being asked to perform a ‘dance off’ for the sales assistant role.

“I think everyone initially thought it was a joke,” Alan, from Newport, South Wales said.

“But they were serious. All professionalism went out of the window.

"I’d spent the past week researching the company and looking forward to being able to express myself and talk about what I love doing.

“But I just felt so embarrassed and uncomfortable. I ended up dancing to Around the World by Daft Punk, doing rubbish robotics in my suit in front of a group of strangers.

“It was so degrading, but I am desperate for work, so I just smiled and got on with it.

“I told my dad it was like a scene out of The Office. I would have walked out but I need a job.”

Daft Funk duo

A group of nine interviewees including Alan were forced to split in to two groups and make up a dance in front of watching staff. A few hours after the interview he received a phone call where he was told “he wouldn’t fit in with the team”. Currys insist the dance part of the interview had been a mistake and that staff who held the interview were being investigated.

A spokesman said: “Regrettably, the store in question did not follow our official recruitment processes on this specific occasion.

“We are very sorry to those interviewees impacted on this occasion and would like to invite them back to attend an official interview where they will be given a proper opportunity to demonstrate how they can contribute to our business.”

Alan, whose ambition is to make science documentaries, declined the offer of a repeat interview.

“I’ve been to quite a few job interviews and have never had to do anything like it before,” he added.

“Another middle aged guy looked really upset as he danced to a rap song.”

Mirror

You must be kidding: Brazilian man to marry his pet goat

here's the bride

A Brazilian man is to wed his pet goat – but has promised not to consummate the marriage. Former stonecutter Aparecido Castaldo, 74, has decided to end his days as a single man to marry his beloved Carmelita.

The happy couple will walk, or trot, down the aisle on October 13 in Igreja do Diabo, or Devil’s Church, in the city of Jundiai, Brazil. Aparecido has been in love with the pet for two years and says a goat has advantages over a human companion.

‘She doesn’t speak and doesn’t want money,’ says the father of eight children – four women and four men from four different marriages. The ceremony is scheduled for midnight and will be followed by a big party on All Souls’ Day the following day.

Carmelita ate her first wedding dress but has been found another, said Aparecido.

‘Whenever someone says I am doing something wrong I reply the goat does not speak, ask for money to go shopping and doesn’t get pregnant – and she can’t talk.’ The ceremony will be conducted by a bishop who said the pair will not be consummating the marriage.

‘This is not the first goat he has, because he likes animals. He just needs a companion. There will be no intercourse between the two.’

Metro

Take splat! 20,000 people throw 130 tons of tomatoes in world's biggest food fight

Almost 2,000 Brits and 20,000 people in total threw 130 tons at the annual Tomatina festival held at the town of Bunol near Valencia.

Six trucks carrying vegetables were brought to the town for the hour long event and portable showers were set up for revelers to wash in afterwards.

The town's streets and walls also had to be washed with hoses after the food fight finished.

The rules of the festivals state that tomatoes have to be squashed before being thrown to avoid injuries.

The town's folklore claims the annual vegetable battle was inspired by a food fight that took place amongst children in 1945 in the town square.

Last year the event attracted 40,000 people, but to restrict number participants were charged £8.60 to enter by the local council for the first time.

The entry fee will also help boost public funds for the recession hit town.

However, some 5,000 residents will allowed to take part in the mass food fight free of charge.

The event attracted revelers from 60 countries including India, France and Australia.

The food fight has inspired similar events across the world including festivals in Colombia, Costa Rica and China.

(Additional reporting by Gerard Couzens - Tag News Media)

Express

My dad beat up my love-rat husband after he admitted cheating on our HONEYMOON

He and another man stormed into a hotel room and battered him before declaring “this is vengeance”, a court heard

Sarah Penhaligon

A cheated bride who was dumped on her honeymoon has defended her dad after he took brutal revenge on his two-timing son-in-law.

Furious Stephen Thatcher, 51, and another man stormed into Philip Stow’s hotel room and battered him before declaring “this is vengeance”, a court heard.

Mr Stow’s new lover Stacey Edwards was in bed with the love rat and was also attacked by Thatcher when she tried to intervene.

But after her dad was locked up for a year, Sarah, 33, described him as a “very generous and kind-hearted man and a loving husband”.

She said: “He was very remorseful. He texted Philip the next day. It was very out of character for him.

“Philip has got justice but what justice have I got? I can’t get a divorce as it is still under a year since we got married.

"He was cheating on me. We were together four-and-a-half years.”

Sarah Penhaligon and Philip Stow in their wedding

The court heard Thatcher treated Mr Stow “like a son”, forked out £10,500 for the wedding and proudly gave his daughter away on their big day in September

But Mr Stow, 27, told Sarah he was leaving her for another woman during a belated honeymoon in Mexico in January.

He ditched devastated Sarah as soon as they got home and moved into a hotel with Miss Edwards.

Enraged Thatcher and five pals tracked Mr Stow down to The Sutherland, in Newquay, Cornwall, after a drinking session in March.

Phillip Lee, prosecuting, said the gang arrived at the hotel bar and demanded access to the rooms.

He said the owner refused, but Thatcher and another man – whom he would not name – headed upstairs, marched into Mr Stow’s room and dragged him out in his underwear.

Mr Lee told the court: “They both struck him on a number of occasions, punching him to his head and body.”

The victim was left with broken teeth and cuts and bruises to his face, which needed hospital treatment.

Angry father-in-law

Mr Stow received a text message from Thatcher the next day, which said: “We love you like a son.

“You have devastated our family but that is no excuse for what happened, sorry.”

Jason Beal, in ­mitigation, said the break-up had a ­devastating effect on Sarah, who took an overdose and ended up in hospital.

But Truro crown court Judge Christopher Harvey Clark QC told Thatcher the groom’s behaviour was no justification for “revenge”.

He said: “His mouth ended up a bloody mess. He had severe damage to his front teeth and from what I have heard, serious physiological consequences.

“It may be that you say he deserved it but not in a civilised society. You know perfectly well that you went beyond the pale.”

Thatcher, who owns a guest house and 20 rental properties, was jailed for a year after admitting assault causing actual bodily harm.

He was given a two-month concurrent sentence for attacking Miss Edwards.

The dad, of Newquay, must also pay Mr Stow £2,500 in compensation, £500 in prosecution costs and a £100 victim surcharge.

Meanwhile, Mr Stow has appealed for the public’s help to trace the second attacker.

He said: “It does feel that the severity of it has been smoothed over – they thought I might have had a skull fracture.

“I’m still going to counselling. It has changed my life – I don’t feel comfortable walking the streets.

“Anything that can be done must be done to find the other man.”

Mirror

QPR hooligan smirked after he stabbed Everton fan who tried to stop attack on woman

He was jailed for five years and banned for eight years from going within a mile of any stadium where QPR are playing

A “dangerous” football hooligan smirked and then burst out laughing after plunging a knife into the chest of a Good Samaritan who tried to stop a girl fan being attacked.

QPR supporter Leon Hughes, 24, was jailed for five years and banned for eight years from going within a mile of any stadium where his team are playing.

A court heard he travelled to Merseyside on a coach from London with a fish knife in his pocket before carrying out the attack following a Premier League game at Goodison Park.

Victim Nikolas Lintott, 20, stepped in when he saw a gang of QPR fans, who had just watched their team lose 2-0 to Everton, picking on a female fan wearing the home team’s replica shirt.

But Liverpool Crown Court heard he was punched and kicked before Hughes, 24, approached and stabbed him.

Prosecutor Simon Duncan said: “He recalled seeing the blade being thrust towards his chest and that the male grinned and put the blade back in his pocket.

“It appears the defendant was pleased with what he had done.

“The complainant saw the smirk and another witness saw a smug smile which soon turned to laughter.”

After the sentencing, brave Mr Lintott insisted he would step in again if he saw a woman being attacked or abused.

He said: “When I saw the woman being attacked I just thought what if that was my mum and it left me fuming.

"I would do it again. It is the way I was brought up.”

“That was a fair sentence. He {the judge} seemed a good judge of character and really saw him for what he was.

“Luckily for me it could have been worse.”

The clash happened about 4.45pm on April 13 in front of hundreds of fans, many women and children, were walking home from the Premier League match.

Mr Lintott was helped by a passing paramedic and taken to hospital with a punctured lung but was discharged the next day.

Hughes returned to the coach and went back to his home in Wandsworth, London, but due to his distinctive silver tooth and sleeve tattoo, detectives from Merseyside managed to trace him using his Twitter account.

The thug, who has previous convictions including assault and affray, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possessing a knife.

The judge, Recorder Nick Clarke, QC, read a psychological report about Hughes in which he was described as “a dangerous individual who has long demonstrated a willingness, even desire, to use force as a means of earning status among his peers.”

He told him: “The unfortunate Mr Lintott, a season ticket holder at Everton was doing nothing more than trying to help a woman who had become involved in the fracas.

"You unfolded your blade and plunged it straight into his chest. You could have killed him.

“Your reaction was to smirk at what you had done. You appeared smug to those who had seen you and were seen laughing by another witness.”

Mirror

Pensioner caught masturbating on a bus tells court he was SHAMPOOING his itchy groin

He claimed his underpants had irritated his groin and he was using the shampoo to soothe it

A pensioner caught masturbating on a bus told police he had just been shampooing his private parts.

Philip Milne, 74, claimed his underpants had irritated his groin and he was using the shampoo to soothe it.

He said: “What I did was wrong, but I was treated like a hardened criminal.”

Bedford magistrates heard a mother with her son alerted the bus driver after seeing Milne with his zip undone.

Milne, from Bletchley, Bucks, was fined £75 after admitting an act of outraging public decency.

Mirror

Hero dog put out bomb in Second World War by URINATING on it

A medal awarded to a dog for urinating on an incendiary bomb to extinguish it in the Blitz was found during a house clearance.

Great Dane Juliana took action when the device fell through the roof of her owner’s home in 1941.

In 1944, she got a second Blue Cross Medal for alerting customers to a fire in her master’s shop.

Auctioneers found one medal and a portrait, which carried a plaque describing Juliana’s brave deeds, in a Bristol house.

The two items sold together for £1,100, more than 18 times the £60 pre-sale estimate.

Philip Taubenheim, auctioneer at Wotton Auction Rooms, Glos, said: “These items tell a fantastic story.

"One can only assume this was a Great Dane with a great bladder.”

Juliana met a sad end in 1946 when she was killed by poison posted through her owner’s letterbox.

Mirror

Testicle-eating fish could be headed to UK after being found in Paris

The ‘ball-cutter’ fish, which reportedly bites human testicles, could be on its way to the UK after being found in France.

'ball-cutter' fish

Male swimmers in Britain could soon have to wear extra protection down below after the pacu was caught worryingly close to these shores in Paris’s Seine river.

Police in the French capital took a photo of the Amazon based fish and said it measured 1ft.

It can grow as large as 35in (90cm) and weigh up to 55lb (25kg).

The pacu, which has reportedly caused men to bleed to death after biting their testicles, had previously turned up in Sweden.

‘The pacu is not normally dangerous to people but it has quite a serious bite,’ said fish expert Henrik Carl.

‘There have been incidents in other countries, such as Papua New Guinea where some men have had their testicles bitten off.

‘They bite because they’re hungry, and testicles sit nicely in their mouth.’

Metro

You can now study a course based on zombie TV show The Walking Dead

If you’ve ever wanted to study a course based on a zombie TV show then you are in luck after it was announced the University of California would be helping to set one up.

zombie course?

There have been plenty of weird degrees on offer at higher education institutes in the past, including learning how to become a clown and also mastering the training methods of the Jedi.

But the latest course available, which focuses on the hit zombie survival series The Walking Dead, could be the strangest yet.

The show’s maker AMC has teamed up with the University of California to offer an online course that will include topics such as ‘what can an apocalypse teach us about anthropology and sociology?’ and ‘nutrition and stress physiology in a high-stress environment’.

The massive open online course (MOOC) will last for eight weeks and open on October 14, which is a day after the fourth series of the show begins in the US.

Metro

Postman shot in head by boy aged EIGHT years old and police are powerless to act

He was left in agony but has been told by police they cannot take action against the boy as he is under 10 – the age of criminal responsibility.

The postman

A postman was almost blinded by an eight-year-old boy who shot him with an air rifle as he did his rounds.

The tiny thug told Steven Tuck, “I’m going to shoot you” before firing a pellet at his temple, missing his eye by centimetres.

Dad-of-one Steven, 51, was left in agony but has been told by police they cannot take action against the boy as he is under 10 – the age of criminal responsibility.

The furious postie said: “If this boy is doing these kind of things now and he’s eight, what is he going to be like as a teenager?”

Describing Saturday’s attack in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, Steven said: “I’m doing my normal delivery when I saw two young boys.

“I wasn’t paying much attention but then I heard one of them shout, ‘I’m going to shoot you’.

“I looked around and the next thing I knew I had been hit – I was lucky it didn’t hit me in the eye because I could have been blinded.

“It hurt me. I had to sit in my van to calm down. It was a big shock.”

Royal Mail has launched an “urgent” probe while Stoke police said they would speak to the boy’s parents to give “suitable advice and warnings”.

But the Communication Workers Union wants all rounds to be suspended in the area while risk checks take place.

The union’s Maxine Penkethman said: “He is really shaken up."

Mirror

Poker player pulls ‘saddest face in the world’ after shock loss

A poker player who gloated just before he got knocked out of a high stakes game proved you should never start toasting your victory until you have actually won.

Unlucky

Carter Gill heckled his opponent as he sat across him at the table.

He was in a confident mood as the 10s and two pair of aces he possessed meant he had a 93 per cent chance of winning.

‘All you need is a queen man, all you need is a queen,’ he said to his opponent David Paredes, who had little chance of claiming victory with his one pair of aces.

But in the end the underdog called the bet and to the surprise of him and even more so, Gill, a queen was drawn as a river card.

The previously confident Gill, who was all in, immediately sat back and his face dropped as he realised he had been knocked out of the World Series of Poker game.

This meant he had lost out on the chance of winning nearly £500,000 and to add further injury the video of his reaction has become an internet hit.

Metro

Feeling hungry? Britain’s biggest burger unveiled

With a name like the Apocalypse Burger, there can be no coming back for anyone brave enough to tackle this giant meat feast.

Britain's biggest burger

Restaurant owners Dave Cossar and Justin Meaney might need some bigger plates after creating Britain’s biggest burger.

The 11kg (25lb) monster meal at JD’s Grill in Plymouth contains 25,000 calories and was created to celebrate the restaurant’s one-year anniversary.

It took three chefs six hours to prepare and cook the jumbo burger which contains £150 worth of ingredients.

‘The burger was originally created to celebrate our anniversary but we are looking at how we could put it on the menu,’ explained Mr Meaney.

‘We would have to find a way to bring the price down a little and make it easier to build and cook in the kitchen without compromising on the quality of the ingredients.’

He added: ‘We served it up to about 14 or 15 people and they absolutely loved it.

‘It was one massive burger, and a real sight to behold – but an hour later every last bite had gone.’

Metro UK