SIDELINES...

TODDLER SAVIOUR

A four-year-old boy saved his unconscious mother’s life after calling 999 by unlocking her iPhone with her fingerprint. He pressed the woman’s thumb to unblock the device and use the Siri function to call the police. Police and paramedics were able to reach the address in Croydon, south London, in 13 minutes. A policeman said it had been the “difference between life and death”. D.Telegraph, 23 Mar 2017.

OLFACTORY SABOTAGE

Someone with a grudge left a home-owner in Stanley, near Perth, with a huge bill after stuffing mackerel, crabs and langoustine into wall cavities, under floorboards and behind the kitchen sink. Some fish were chopped and wrapped in foil, others were stored in plastic tubs. “The smell was overpowering,” said a neighbour. The owner had spent two years renovating the property. Dundee Courier & Advertiser, 28 Jan 2017.

STICKY PROBLEM

A seven-year-old Jack Russell called Finlay soon regretted chewing on a glossy leaflet that dropped through the family letterbox. The paper of the flyer reacted with his saliva to form a sticky paste, which cemented his jaw fast. He was rushed to vets in Devizes, Wiltshire, where his jaw was prized open in a 45-minute procedure. Western Daily Press, 2 Jan 2017.

FLORIDA ETIQUETTE

At 1am on 21 November, Kristy Jo Mohr turned up at the home of Alana Annette Savell, 32, in Panama City, Florida, with a man whom she had just met in a bar. When her guests began drinking and raising their voices, Ms Savell ordered them to go, and when they didn’t obey she shot them both in the legs with a 22-calibre handgun. They went to hospital with non life-threatening injuries and Ms Savell was charged with aggravated battery by a firearm. BBC News, 23 Nov 2016.