Feb 4, 2005

THE MAN WHO DRINKS PETROL

He usually went for unleaded but was happy with four star and diesel, police said.

Garage ban for maniac

By Kevin Donald



A MAN has been banned from garages - for sneaking on to forecourts to drink petrol.

Brian Taylor, 36, has been branded a four-star pest for slashing hoses to get at the fuel and terrorising staff and shoppers.

He was pictured on security cameras pouring a drink of unleaded before doing a maniacal dance while high on fumes.

Taylor, who doesn't drive, has been issued with an anti-social behaviour order banning him from all garages in Teesside.

The ASBO means he can't even get a carry-out - as the order forbids him having a petrol can in a public place.

Taylor, of South Bank, Middlesbrough, was warned that if his behaviour doesn't stop he will go to jail.

Teesside magistrates heard that on 51 occasions he terrorised staff and shoppers after drinking and sniffing petrol at the filling station at Asda's South Bank store.

On several occasions, he was aggressive when they tried to stop him.

Security footage taken in the early hours one day in July last year showed him dancing wildly around pumps while worried staff watched from their kiosk.

He was caught filling containers day and night after making holes in the hoses.

He usually went for unleaded but was happy with four star and diesel, police said.

Sergeant Bryan Tams, of Cleveland police, said Taylor's actions were a danger to himself and the public.

He said: 'People have turned up at the station, not knowing the pipe's been cut.

'When they have tried to put petrol into their car they have been sprayed all over with petrol, which is very dangerous.

'I've heard reports of meetings called to control his behaviour when he turned up stinking of petrol. The fumes have been so bad he's been asked to leave the building.'

It is thought his actions have cost Asda more than £3000 in damage and lost fuel.

Taylor denies drinking petrol - but admits he loves to sniff it.

Footage showed him filling an empty fizzy drink bottle with fuel, lifting it to his lips and putting back his head. He claims he was just inhaling the fumes.

Sgt Tams said: 'He laughs at the idea he'd drink it. He says, 'I'm daft but not that daft.' Police say they are trying to get help for Taylor to battle his addiction.

Petrol is a mixture of volatile toxic hydrocarbons, which are quickly absorbed through the stomach and lungs and act as a depressant, similar to alcohol.

Sniffing or drinking the chemical gives an instant high - but it may contribute to brain damage and harm the central nervous system and major organs.

Feb 3, 2005

Don't try this at home

Woman Accused of Giving Lethal Sherry Enema

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas woman has been indicted for criminally negligent homicide for causing her husband's death by giving him a sherry enema, a police detective said on Wednesday.

Tammy Jean Warner, 42, gave Michael Warner two large bottles of sherry on May 21, which raised his blood alcohol level to 0.47 percent, or nearly six times the level considered legally drunk in Texas, police detective Robert Turner in Lake Jackson, Texas, told the Houston Chronicle.

"We're not talking about little bottles here," Turner said. "These were at least 1.5-liter bottles."

Warner, 58, was said to have an alcohol problem and received the wine enema because a throat ailment left him unable to drink the sherry, Turner told the newspaper.


"I heard of this kind of thing in mortuary school in 1970, but this is the first time I've ever heard of someone actually doing it," said Turner, who led the lengthy investigation in the case.


The woman admitted administering the enema, but denied causing her husband's death, the Chronicle said.


A dispatcher for the Lake Jackson police said only Turner could discuss the case, but he did not return phone calls from Reuters.


Along with negligent homicide, Mrs. Warner was indicted for burning her husband's will a month before his death. Both charges carry maximum penalties of two years in prison.


Mrs. Warner surrendered to police on Monday and was released on $30,000 bail, the newspaper said.