Dog beater got exactly what he deserved

And yet Bobby was beaten outside?

Wardle was thoroughly ashamed of his actions, so he says, signing the dog over to the RSPCA who thankfully didn’t send him off with a verbal warning but prosecuted him and Wardle received an impressive number of penalties including a ten-year ban on keeping animals.

The punishments for animal abusers are ridiculous in this country so this is a good result.

And poor, sweetfaced Bobby is with the RSPCA and hopefully will be re-homed somewhere where his owner is what a dog owner should be – kind and patient.

Because if that was coincidentally the first time Wardle beat his dog, I’m Heidi Klum.

■ Here’s a conundrum that has split the household: a friend of mine bought some shopping at a local big store which sells a range of goods.

When she got home, it was to find her bottle of Mr Muscle had leaked in her bag, because the top was split, and it had ruined the four boxes of chocolates she’d also bought.

So she rang the store. As is the case these days, she was hanging on for ten minutes because her call had got ‘lost in transfer’ but she rang back and was told the manager’s verdict was that once she has left the shop, it had no longer any responsibility for its goods.

That can’t be right, I thought. So if you get home and find what you’ve bought is damaged, it’s not the shop’s fault?

The other half thought she should have checked the bottle to make sure it wasn’t leaking. It set us off on a Google search to see what the law says and we couldn’t find a similar case.

But I will be checking my bottle tops from now on before I put them in my basket. The idea of chocolates being ruined makes my heart cry.

■ I have been waiting eagerly for Dr Joann Fletcher to open her exhibition about the discovery of the tomb of King Tut for what feels like years, ever since she told me the incredible story of its link to the area.

For it was Barnsley lad and archaeologist Harold Jones who was hot on the trail of the tomb before it was uncovered – and flash Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter who, I suspect, leapt on his lead, took it over and cut old Harold out of his rightful place in history.

I’ve worked with people like that taking a short cut to glory, haven’t you? There’s not a mention of King Tut on his Wikipedia page.

My goodness, the establishment would go into meltdown if it was discovered that a man from BARNSLEY could have been instrumental in finding the boy king’s tomb.

Joann should know. She’s had to battle the snobbery in the world of archaeology for a long time, but battle she has.

Imagine the furore if two people from the area were responsible for discovering both Tutankhamun and Nefertiti – it would be the end of civilisation as we know it.