Interesting pet

[ozzy72]

This is just truely weird!
A lonely man who kept a cayman in his bath escaped a jail sentence for endangering the public yesterday after a judge decided that he was too stupid to have realised the lethal nature of his pet.
Anthony Quinn, who tried to sell the 1.2 metre (4ft) South American spectacled cayman from his car boot in a supermarket car park, was told he was lucky not have had his arms or other limbs bitten off.
"If it was not for the utter stupidity of your actions then I would have to think what happened was more sinister," said Sheriff Kenneth MacIver at Edinburgh sheriff court.
"The whole ridiculous set of circumstances came about as a result of complete and utter thoughtlessness on your part. The person most at risk throughout was yourself."
The court heard that Quinn, 54, an unemployed father of two, had tried to recreate a tiny patch of rainforest for the protected reptile in his home on the 15th floor of a tower block in Leith. He rigged up a heating apparatus which nearly electrocuted the cayman, and also had fantastical notions of keeping it - 70 razor sharp teeth and all - in an inflatable paddling pool in his living room as it grew towards its adult length of 2.4 metres.
The judge told him: "This is a very bizarre case and I have struggled to come up with an appropriate sentence."
The court heard that Quinn had bought the cayman on the internet for

[Hagar]

..... escaped a jail sentence for endangering the public yesterday after a judge decided that he was too stupid ....

Does this mean that if you're sufficiently stupid you can do anything you like? If this is the case I fear for the future. Once again the mind boggles.

PS. Look out chaps. The idiots are taking over the planet. They're everywhere.

[Romulus111VADT]

Does this mean that if you're sufficiently stupid you can do anything you like? If this is the case I fear for the future. Once again the mind boggles.

PS. Look out chaps. The idiots are taking over the planet. They're everywhere.

I think that the US has more than it's fair share of idiots...lol....about time they started to emigrate to other lands....lol....

[Hagar]

I think that the US has more than it's fair share of idiots...lol....about time they started to emigrate to other lands....lol....

Please don't send them here. We have more than enough of our own.

[Romulus111VADT]

Please don't send them here. We have more than enough of our own.

They probably got lost and ended up in the UK. We had a classic example a few years ago with an elderly couple that were going to visit friends (I think?) only about 40 miles from their home on the east coast. Well, they ended up on the West Coast some 14 (or so) days later. Seems the old gent got lost BIG time and was to stubborn to ask for directions. His wife got frustrated at his cantankerous ways and just sat back and enjoyed seeing America....lmao.

Funniest part was- their family members reported them as missing. Guess they never figured on the old guy doing a Forrest Gump.  ;D

[Hagar]

We had a classic example a few years ago with an elderly couple that were going to visit friends (I think?) only about 40 miles from their home on the east coast. Well, they ended up on the West Coast some 14 (or so) days later.

I can match that. Similar story, elderly couple from the south decide to visit friends or relatives in the north of England. You've probably heard of the M25, the road to hell that encircles London, sometimes described as the biggest car park in England. Well, this couple had never driven on a motorway before. They ended up more or less where they started after continuously driving in a circle for something like 2 days.

PS. I'm not one to criticise. I won't tell you how long it took me to get home after our recent SimV meeting at Hendon. I somehow took the wrong turning & ended up in the centre of London. At one point I was beginning to think I would never see my home ever again.

[Felix/FFDS]

"If it was not for the utter stupidity of your actions then I would have to think what happened was more sinister," said Sheriff Kenneth MacIver at Edinburgh sheriff court.

Actually, the most surprising - to me - event was the court actually mentioning that a person appearing before it was "stupid"  ...   Can the person now counter-sue the judge and court for "mental anguish" ?

[Hagar]

[quote]Actually, the most surprising - to me - event was the court actually mentioning that a person appearing before it was "stupid"

[Chris_F]

[quote]

Actually, the most surprising - to me - event was the court actually mentioning that a person appearing before it was "stupid"

[Hagar]

Not if the allegation that he is "stupid" is correct, and I assume there is ample evidence that it is.

Quite possibly but is a Sheriff qualified to decide that?

PS. In Scotland a Sheriff is the local court judge.

[Saitek]

I feel sorry for the poor bloke myself. He's all lonely and perhaps just too simple to realise what was involved. I'm afraid despite his stupidity I wouldn't be hard on him and I'd like to criticise the judge for banning him on keeping pets - people torture animals and when the RSPCA prosecutes they only get a ban for 10 years sometimes. He wasn't being mean to him at all. Perhaps he didn't even realise that the animal was so dangerous.

[Hagar]

I feel sorry for the poor bloke myself. He's all lonely and perhaps just too simple to realise what was involved.

You make a good point Dan. However, if he's lonely I can think of a more suitable pet than a bloomin' great lizard. How about a nice cuddly kitten or a dog. They make wonderful company & all they ask in return is food & a nice warm place to sleep. But then, I never understood people's ideas of pets these days.