■ CANADA
Judge reduces sentence
An obese inmate has had his jail sentence reduced because a judge found that his prison was not adequate to hold a man of his girth, reports said on Friday. Michel “Big Mike” Lapointe, 37, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in February and on Wednesday was sentenced to five years in prison, including 20 months served awaiting trial. The judge also shaved six months off his sentence because of the hardships the 195kg man claimed to have endured in prison, the daily Ottawa Citizen said. “His health was deteriorating, his weight was such that there were no objects in prison made for someone like him,” his lawyer said. “His [prison] bed is a foot smaller than he is. He can’t even sit on a chair.”
■ CANADA
Fourth foot found on island
For the fourth time in less than a year, a right human foot has been found off one of four different islands in the Strait of Georgia in British Columbia. Police said again on Friday that they do not know if there are any links between them. Police said a passerby found a human foot in a shoe on Kirkland Island in the South Arm of the Fraser River Thursday. Last August, a foot was found inside a man’s Reebok sneaker on nearby Gabriola Island, just a few days after another foot was discovered by beachcombers on Jedidiah Island. The remains of a third right foot were found on the east side of Valdez Island on Feb. 8. There is no evidence to suggest the foot — or any or the previous three — was forcibly removed, Police Constable Annie Linteau said. “All four were wearing socks and were in a running shoe,” she said. Two of the feet are size 12. Police are not releasing the size of the others.
RSS