■ Great Britain
Escape into prison
A pair of prisoners at a British low-security open jail have escaped, but only to knock on the door of a more secure prison nearby and ask to be detained there instead, a report said Thursday. The duo fled from Leyhill prison near Gloucester, central England, because the reformed drugs users found narcotics too easily available there, the Times said yesterday. Audie Carr, 29 and 23-year-old Benjamin Clarke were found to be missing at a roll call held last Sunday night, but by Monday lunchtime they had knocked on the doors of Gloucester Prison around 32km away. The pair, jailed for offenses including burglary, theft and assault, had originally been held at Gloucester Prison, where they were able to kick their drug habits, but found that the lower-security facility offered too much temptation.
■ United States
Private rocket nears space
A tear-shaped rocket became the first privately-funded vehicle to reach the edge of space Thursday when it carried a 62-year-old test pilot to a height of 64,435m, The Los Angeles Times reported. SpaceShipOne was released from spider-like mother plane White Knight at a height of 14,020 feet. A few seconds late, pilot Mike Melvill fired its rockets and the pod shot straight up into the Mojave desert sky for almost a minute before reaching its peak altitude and gliding down to earth.
■ United States
Woman, 97, arrested
Police guidelines calling for anyone wanted on a warrant to be arrested have been revamped following the public outcry over an officer's arrest of a 97-year-old woman. The woman was handcuffed and taken to jail for an outstanding traffic warrant. Officers in the Dallas suburb of Highland Park now can use discretion in arrest cases if they have a supervisor's approval. Several factors will be weighed when making that decision, including physical disabilities or old age.
RSS