The not-so legal… Proper planning prevents poor performance:

A farmer, Robert Fidler, 60, who spent two years secretly building a castle behind hay bales to hide it from planners has lost his attempt to prevent it being knocked down. The Times

One commenter stated that Mr Fiddler is not a farmer but a straw dealer. We got the feeling that said commenter might have been a lawyer…and might just have missed the point.

A New Zealand teenager who says she auctioned her virginity online for $32,000 (£14,000) to raise tuition money did not break any laws but it might be risky for her to follow through on the deal, say police. (Independent)

Much that is questionable in that one sentence.

Steven Tyler Threatens Lawsuit if Aerosmith Recruit New Singer (Rolling Stone)

Steven Tyler’s lawyer, Skip Miller, made a fairly sensible point: “Can you imagine the manager of the Rolling Stones calling for the replacement of Mick Jagger?” More appropriate than a John Lennon-Beatles-Wings analogy we thought.

Wayne Rooney and his wife Coleen are being sued for £4.3 million after being “exploited” by his agent (Independent)

Exploited and then sued for the pleasure. Nice.

A secularist group has lodged an official complaint against Cherie Booth QC after she spared a man from prison because he was religious. (BBC)

Cherie seems to have the same divine powers of authority as Tony.

Southampton council warned taxi drivers that they faced suspension if they put up St George stickers and signs saying they speak English in their cars. (Independent)

We’re not the St George flag waving types here but we couldn’t decide what was more ridiculous – thie idea that passengers were unable to work out whether or not their driver could speak English once they were in the taxi, or the fact that the local council though it needed to act so decisively to eradicate this terrible perceived problem – the streets of Southmpton being overrun with fascist taxi drivers? Talking of authoritarian overzealousness…

Police spent £1,500 on aerial photo to prove mobile phone offence against motorist (haven’t they heard of Google Earth?) – The case was eventually kicked out of court and the judge has criticised police for wasting public money. (The Mail)

Quite. If nicotine patches failed to assist your New Year’s resolution:

An Indonesian man has been given £335 compensation after a cigarette he was smoking exploded, taking out six teeth. (BBC)

And finally, the carefree days of university may be in the distant past for many of us but if memory serves correctly, this sort of module was definitely not on offer for law students.

University worker offered forged degrees in return for spanking sessions (Independent)

Have a good weekend.

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