I love the fact that she cant remember the name of her Grandchild - remind me again why I shouldnt be horrible about the working class?

I was most amused by ''I was furious when I read what he'd put - it really hurt my feelings. I don't really understand what it means"

Not only does she earn more than you (or me, by a long shot) JDK, think of the outgoings; council rent is a pittance, she'll get reductions off all sorts for being on benefits, none of the expediture most of us have to pay out just to get to work each day & look presentable...

Someone very familiar appears to have left a comment...

i love the tone of the reporter tho.. "Sandy, who has a three-year-old granddaughter whose name she cannot remember,".. you can just hear the sarcasm dripping off his pen hehe

This is why I should be allowed to patrol council estates... with a crossbow

At the very least we should cut off her benefits and force her to send her army of illegitimate knuckle dragging offspring out to find some menial work to pay for their existance instead of sucking the life juices out of an overly tolerant society...

 

And breath...

Apologies for any spelling mistakes above - couldnt be arsed to check it... sorry.

Speaking of social disaters... some people really are amazingly stupid!

Heh.  More amazing dumbness can be found in Ohio:

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Waitress gets own ID when carding patron

WESTLAKE, Ohio - A bar waitress checking to see if a woman was legally old enough to drink was handed her own stolen driver's license, which was reported missing weeks earlier, police said.

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Indeed.  Now prepare to witness more Bristol based dumbness, courtesy of the front page of the Evening Post.  I'll paraphrase:

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GIRLS IN TERROR DRIVE

A teenage girl is fighting for her life after she and a friend got into a stranger's car which crashed into a lamp-post late at night...

...They had been allowed out by Jamie-Leigh's mum at 11.30pm on Saturday after pestering her to let them buy some food. The pair went to Lickin' Chicken takeaway in West Street, Bedminster, before they got into the car shortly after 12.45am.

Earlier, they had bought cans of cider in an off-licence.

Zoe, who has five brothers and three sisters, told the Evening Post the pair got in the car after the driver offered to take them home...

...[Zoe] told the Evening Post: "We'd never met him before. But Jamie wanted to get in the car - so there was no way I was going to let her go on her own...

...A 19-year-old man, believed to be from Southmead, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of drink-driving and driving while disqualified...

...[Jamie Leigh's mother] said: "I've always told her never to get into a car, unless it's a family member or a friend. What she did was totally out of character.

"You try and do your best for your children and keep them in check. You never believe anything like this will happen..."

...[Zoe's Stepfather] said: "They shouldn't have got in the car - Zoe knows that now.

"She'll be scared for the rest of her life because of this. I just hope Zoe's learned her lesson.

"I guess they thought it would be fun to be driven home in a boy's car.

"You can't watch over them all the time. I've spoken to her social worker and we both agree that she's lucky to be alive.

---

I can almost imagine the conversation:

Driver:  'Awlright girlsh.  You wann me choo drive yoush home?'
Girls: 'But you're a total stranger and you appear to be inebriated'
Driver: 'Yesh.  But I've honly 'ad a few pintsh.  I promish not to crash.  (hic)'
Girls: Oh, alright then.

I know it's very sad and I hope she pulls through and everything, but bloody hell.  Getting into a car with a complete stranger - whether or not they knew he was p*ssed.  And letting 13 years olds out in the middle of the night in a rough part of town?  Selling 13 year olds cider (had to be cider, didn't it)? What the hell is going on in the sordid underbelly of Bristol?

-- Edited by ddvmor at 12:09, 2006-08-01

is the teenage girl fighting for her life the one that the stepfather said 'i think she's learned her lesson now'?

cause yeah they were stupid.. but way to be parental!

The Walking Social Disaster said:

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''I'm a very good mum and I've done very well considering my circumstances. But I've just had the wrong start in life and social services haven't helped me at all. Mr Niven shouldn't have judged me like that - what right has he got?"

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Not sure that washes when her own son, who must have had an even worse start than her seems to have done ok for himself!

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ALL SIX OF US ARE GREAT KIDS

The son of the Bristol woman branded a "walking social disaster" has spoken out against her lifestyle and come to the defence of her other children. Sandy Blackman, 42, from Bedminster, has six children from five different men, has never worked in her life and it is believed she claims up to £22,000 in benefits a year.

Her fourth child is rising star and TV presenter Junior Saunders, aged 20.

He said that reading the details of his mum's lifestyle on the front page of the Evening Post 10 days ago was a major shock but said he could understand why readers reacted in the way they did.

He said the story had now inspired him to make more of his own life.

Junior was abandoned by Sandra when he was six weeks old and was fostered for the next 16 years in Easton.

He made it to the shortlist to become a Blue Peter presenter and is now being trained by CBBC in London to be a children's TV presenter.

He has already gained experience working as a reporter for BBC Points West, has written a musical and supports many community good causes...

...[He said] "Sandra says she was trapped into that lifestyle but she made her choices. She could have made something of her life but she chose not to."

---

Good on ya, Junior.

Another sordid tale from the back-end of Bristol...

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NO JAIL FOR 'LOVE RIVAL' ABH MUM

A mum-of-three who beat up a total stranger she mistakenly believed had been having an affair with her boyfriend has been given a suspended jail term. Rachael Hayward, of Lisburn Road, Knowle West, stormed into Nicola Perks' Ashton home, grabbed her hair and punched her to the floor, Bristol Crown Court heard...

...The court heard Miss Perks screamed and said she didn't know her attacker or what she wanted.

In reply, Mr Posner said, Hayward, 30, claimed her victim had been sleeping with her partner.

Though Miss Perks said she had not she was hit again, the court heard. Hayward's boyfriend then appeared at the scene, but quickly ran off...

...Ms Marlow [defending] said that her client had discovered the father of the child had had an affair and it was him who took her to the address where the attack occurred.

Ms Marlow told the court: "She accepts a red mist took over. It was a particular set of awful circumstances that led her to this particularly awful event.

"She is very very sorry."

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So... the adulterous boyfriend took her to the house... and ran off...but Hayward's 'very very sorry', so that's alright.

Tut

I had a terrible time trying to decide whether to post this here or in the 'stead get your crossbow' thread.  I went for this one in the end:

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MS SHEPPARD AND HER FLOCK OF EIGHT

A Family from Yate have just welcomed their newest arrival - with mum Joanne Sheppard insisting baby number 10 will be her last.Joanne, her partner Gary Bateman and eight of her children squeeze into a three-bedroomed council house and live on about £24,000 a year in benefits.

The latest addition to the family is baby Riley Sheppard, born on Saturday at Southmead Hospital, weighing 8lb 14oz.

Joanne, who is just 32, had her first baby at 17 and since then has spent more time being pregnant than not.

She said: "I love being pregnant.

"After my eighth child was born I said I wouldn't have any more but now I've got 10 children!"

Joanne's children are Dale, 14, Chelsea, 13, Reece, 12, Jasmine, nine, Brandon, eight, Libby, six, Cameron, four, and Brogan, three, Ethan, 19 months and Riley, five days old.

Joanne's eldest two children live with their father in Devon. She is a full-time parent to the rest, helped by unemployed Gary, 42.

The four youngest children were fathered by Gary and the eldest six were fathered by Joanne's two ex-partners - although they have all been brought up by Gary.

Gary also has three other daughters from a previous relationship so in total the couple have 13 children between them...

...The couple receive around £24,000 a year in benefits, including incapacity benefit for Gary, who has been unable to work since an operation last November, plus hous- ing and council tax benefit. This is equivalent to someone earning a salary of around £33,000 before tax.

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Shall I list the things that are wrong here?  No.  I won't bother...

Incidentally... I stubbed my toe quite badly the other day.  It's really badly bruised, even a few days later.  I need incapacity benefit because it stops me sitting at a desk.  £33k will do me just nicely thanks you so very fecking much!

Unless I'm a scumbag, presumably.  In which case you'll be writing me a cheque straight away!

I'm ALWAYS nice, I'll have you know!  And I can pay people to confirm that to you.