lostinspace1970

MOT worker wrecks £200,000 Ferrari - Europe, World News - Independent.ie MOT worker wrecks £200,000 Ferrari A garage worker wrecked a client's £200,000 (€233,000) Ferrari after he took the supercar for a spin on the road to "put it through its paces" following an MOT. The Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, which has a top speed of 196mph, was being driven by a road tester from a local MOT centre when it smashed into a lamppost and flew over a two-foot wall into the middle of a roundabout. The dark blue vehicle, one of only a handful of models in Britain, was seriously damaged after the crash in New Malden, Surrey, in which the driver, in his early 20s, was unhurt. A source said the car was being given a "quick road test" before being returned to its owner, who is "obviously not happy that their pride and joy has been wrecked". A Ferrari spokesman said the car was not being driven by a member of staff from Ferrari or an official Ferrari dealership, and added the company would help police with any inquiries. Police said the incident was being treated as a "one car accident" and that an investigation was unnecessary. The driver was treated for shock by paramedics at the scene. Gary Adams, who witnessed the incident, said: "He was driving along one minute and the next the car was in the middle of the roundabout. "He looked pretty stressed out when he realised the car was wrecked and kept saying his bosses would kill him." Another eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said: "He just lost control and smashed into a lamppost and then the car mounted the roundabout and ended up in the middle of it. "There were no other cars involved – he just lost it as he went round the roundabout." - Nick Collins © Telegraph.co.uk

St. John ( when used as a middle name ) as Syngan

one night stand with Bill....Comedy Central+1.... just after midnight tonight RIP

I'm fond of munching a bit of carpet too

all been a misunderstanding...not 500m but .... Ceres Pilsner 500ml

Bradford remembered: The unheeded warnings that led to tragedy | David Conn | Football | The Guardian Bradford remembered: The unheeded warnings that led to tragedyTwenty-fifth anniversary service marks the day Bradford's Valley Parade ground became a sad monument to neglect Guardian, Wednesday 12 May 2010 Article history Flashback to the dreadful day 25 years ago when 56 people perished needlessly after fire engulfed Bradford's Valley Parade. Photograph: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis Under a grey sky in Bradford's Centenary Square yesterday, the archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, led a service to mark the 25th anniversary of the appalling day in 1985, when 56 people died and 265 were injured in the fire which engulfed the old wooden main stand at Bradford City's Valley Parade ground. It was a horrific landmark in English football's history of disasters, and its cause, revealed by the legal processes which followed, was not mere accident, but scandalous neglect. The official inquiry by a high court judge, Mr Justice Popplewell, heard forensic evidence that the fire, at the final game of the season for a sparkling young side who had already won promotion from the old Third Division, was caused by the "accidental lighting of debris" under the stand. A discarded match, cigarette or pipe tobacco from a spectator smoking above was identified as the likely cause, but the accumulation of rubbish itself became a symbol of football's widespread mismanagement. Bradford City had fallen into receivership in 1983, then were bought by Stafford Heginbotham, who became the chairman, and Jack Tordoff, the vice-chairman. Tordoff, now 75, was, still is, one of Bradford's most successful businessmen, a major shareholder and chairman of the JCT600 group of car franchises. In an interview with the Guardian last month, Tordoff recalled that he and Heginbotham bought the club for around £30,000 each. Heginbotham, whose own business was failing, ran the football side while Tordoff managed the club financially. "We were not in it to make a profit," Tordoff said. "We gave our time voluntarily, to maintain football for the people of Bradford." The police officer responsible for searching the debris of the burnt-out stand told Popplewell he found litter which had been there for years, including a 1968 copy of the local newspaper, the Telegraph and Argus. It then emerged that West Yorkshire metropolitan county council, which was responsible for football ground and fire safety, had written to the club on 18 July 1984, specifically warning about that main stand: "The timber construction is a fire hazard and in particular, there is a build-up of combustible materials in the voids beneath the seats. A carelessly discarded cigarette could give rise to a fire risk." The club did not act on that warning, nor did it reply to the letter. Tordoff told Popplewell, and the subsequent legal action by the bereaved and injured, that he believed the letter referred to surface litter, not to rubbish under the stands. In his recent interview he said they were operating "in the culture of those days", when the authorities had a less rigorous approach to health and safety. If the council considered the fire risk "a big issue", he argued, it had the power to close the ground, which it did not do. The inquest into the deaths, in July 1985, relied on the same evidence presented to Popplewell. The coroner, James Turnbull, advised the jury that a verdict of misadventure, not accidental death, would mean the fire could have been foreseen and action taken to avoid it. "It crossed my mind to consider manslaughter," Turnbull, now retired, recalls. "It is difficult, to make a corporate body liable, but with the warnings they had, it was very close. Ultimately I thought misadventure was more appropriate, and the jury came to that conclusion." Tordoff told the Guardian he would have been "devastated" by a manslaughter recommendation, stressing again that he and Heginbotham, who has since died, were giving their time for free. "It was a full-time job we were doing part-time," he said. "We did our best." After the misadventure verdict, test cases were brought against the club and council for negligence, by David Britton, a police sergeant injured working heroically to save spectators' lives, and by Susan Fletcher, who lost her husband John, 11-year-old son Andrew, John's brother Peter and his father Edmond in the fire. On 23 February 1987 Sir Joseph Cantley found the club and the county council, by then abolished, respectively two-thirds and one-third responsible. "The continued negligence of the club and the continuing indifference of the council in various departments after being alerted to the existence of the danger were concurrent in causing this disaster," he ruled. The judgment meant that 110 bereaved or injured people and 44 police officers would have their claims for compensation met, a multimillion pound settlement which was then the largest civil action brought in Britain. By then, Valley Parade had been rebuilt and reopened, a full house watching a City side play an England representative team, on 14 December 1986. The team had played their intervening matches at Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, then Bradford's Odsal Stadium, and the return to Valley Parade was hugely emotional, felt by many fans as a monument to life continuing after disaster. The rebuilding, which Tordoff oversaw, was paid for largely with public money; West Yorkshire metropolitan county council gave the club £1.4m even while it was jointly being sued for negligence. Further grants came from the Football Trust, and the club's insurance – Tordoff said they received £200,000 more than they needed. In January 1988, Tordoff bought Heginbotham's stake in City, paying around £400,000 for the shares which had originally cost Heginbotham around £30,000. Tordoff described that as "a fair price", saying the rebuilt stadium gave the club more "balance-sheet value". In 1990, Tordoff sold out himself, for £700,000, to a new owner, Dave Simpson. Tordoff acknowledged that was a "decent profit" but said the money all went back into the club in sponsorship from JCT600. Popplewell made extensive safety recommendations after Bradford, although his inquiry was substantially concerned with hooliganism, taking in a riot at a match between Birmingham City and Leeds United on the same day, then the Heysel disaster, which happened 18 days after the fire. Popplewell concluded that all football supporters should hold membership cards, endorsing the policy being pursued by Margaret Thatcher's government but opposed as an identity-card scheme by supporters' groups. He recommended that all grounds be designated to require a safety certificate, that no wooden stands be built, and that fences around the pitch, which would have been lethal at Bradford, need not come down, but must have wide enough exit gates to allow fans out in an emergency. Yet that recommendation was not implemented, with disastrous consequences at Hillsborough four years later, where 96 Liverpool supporters died, crushed behind the fences. Martin Fletcher, Susan's other son, was 12 when he lost his father, brother, uncle and grandfather to the Bradford fire, but survived himself. Now a chartered accountant, with an MA from Warwick University and postgraduate diploma in law, he has extensively studied the processes which followed the fire, and its surrounding circumstances. "The club at the time took no actual responsibility for its actions and nobody has ever really been held accountable for the level of negligence which took place," he argues now. "It was appalling that public money was given to the club while it was still owned by the same shareholders under whose direction the fire had happened. "I do not include the people currently running the club, who have always displayed a great, sensitive duty to the memory of those who died. Yesterday's events were beautifully planned and it was touching to see so many Bradford people out in support on a working day. "I was at Hillsborough with friends, so I bore witness to that disaster, which was a clear testament to the failure of Popplewell's report to properly address safety at sports grounds. The only reason I feel my family did not die in vain is the pioneering research work for victims by Bradford University's plastic surgery and burns research unit, which continues to this day." In January 1990, Lord Justice Taylor produced his final report after Hillsborough, rejecting identity cards, and demanding football conclusively sweep away its neglectful approach to supporters. Taylor's safety recommendations for all grounds were swiftly passed into law, heralding English football's true rebuilding. He lamented that the recommendations of eight previous reports had not been implemented, following disasters or crises dating from overcrowding at the first Wembley FA Cup final of 1923 to Bradford. Asking why, Taylor suggested one main reason: "Insufficient concern for the safety and wellbeing of spectators." That is the culture whose passing was marked yesterday, along with the remembrance of so many innocent lives lost. Martin Fletcher is running a sponsored half-marathon to raise money for the Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit at Bradford University's Centre for Skin Sciences Martin Fletcher is fundraising for BCFC Burns Unit Appeal - JustGiving

I fail to see how this outburst helps Robinson....its obviously another agenda from Sham. There was also that glorious mistake against Russia in case anyone forgot it

And his Dad probably has the painkillers sorted

no Ronaldinho in the squad either... To be fair to Lucas, if he gives 100% every time he plays, thats all he can do, and its a bit unfair to have a go at the lad for that. Whether he is good enough or not is a seperate issue to be address at others door if you feel he is not

Dont like Boulton....another case of a journo mistaking his opinion for fact. Self important git

Yeah, I think this one will run for a bit longer all right. Being honest, I'm not their biggest fans. You're right, £20m is a drop in the ocean, but for a club like Birmingham, a couple of bad seasons, relegation or not, parachute payments or not, will leave them in trouble I suppose the fact these days is that football people are being squeezed out of football by the money men....this becomes a vicious circle as then everyone else needs more money to compete. These people have a malign influence on the game, be they loudmouth, gobby cretins like Sullivan and Ken Bates or our own beloved masters. They generally take more than they put back

Not sure about that, mate Yeung steps up war with Gold and Sullivan as Birmingham announce losses of £20m Carson Yeung’s war with David Sullivan and David Gold erupted last night as Birmingham announced record £20million losses. Hong Kong tycoon Yeung is suing his City predecessors following a bitter £80m takeover at St Andrews last October. Furious Yeung ordered a financial probe after inheriting liabilities for up to £11m and Karren Brady’s controversial severance package. And Premier League City’s accounts for 2008/2009, exclusively seen by Mirrorsport, now show a whopping £19.7m loss. It is a huge embarrassment to Sullivan and Gold, in charge at top-flight rivals West Ham. And a shocked Sullivan last night admitted: “I can’t see where this loss has come from.” He and Gold took over at Upton Park in January and were very critical of the financial mess at the club after revealing debts of £110m. They claimed they were the ideal men to save the Hammers after turning City into a Premier League club from the brink of bankruptcy in 1993. But Yeung’s figures, from when the Blues were in the Championship, show Birmingham was arguably insolvent last term as the value of the assets did not equal the losses. Now Yeung is legally challenging the old regime about taking lucrative bonuses out of the club after May 2009 when the financial year ended. Yeung, who bought an initial 29.9 per cent of City for £15m in 2007, also believes he overpaid for the rest by paying £1 a share last year. And his advisors feel a price of just 30p a share would have been more appropriate given what they inherited. But Sullivan added: “We had a policy of retaining the squad to get back up which we thought was the correct policy and was vindicated because the club got promotion at the first opportunity automatically. “Last summer we knew the club had a financial problem as we publicly stated we loaned it £5m to pay the deposits on two new players because there was no money to do that. “Some of the losses are the way accounting practices write players off over the period of their contracts although the money is paid over an early period. “But the first six months of 2008-09 we lost £4m and I can’t see how the club has lost £16m in the second half of the year. “I am sure the club will make £10-15m in the Premier League this year though.” Yeung is so angry he even refused to attend City’s recent game at West Ham and returned some blue and white gold and silver jewellery from Sullivan intended as a peace offering. There has been deep ill-feeling between the camps since Yeung’s first aborted takeover bid in 2007. When Yeung finally got the club he ordered City’s vice-president Peter Pannu, a former Hong Kong cop and barrister, to investigate. Sullivan and Gold have admitted taking advance management fees worth £420,000 out before their departure. Sullivan offered £500,000 to settle the dispute but Yeung rejected the proposal and has sued.

There was a very good short on Football Focus a couple of weeks ago about the Bradford fire. I don't think that you can ever get over that kind of thing. There should be some sort of a marking of all football related deaths, be it a minutes silence or applause once a year organised by UEFA / FIFA. Sad to say, it would probably get hijacked by some nutters RIP

Real football people like Zola are being driven out of football by cunts like Gold and Sullivan. Makes me puke

What is the point of her ?? I just don't understand it

Cheryl Cole knows the feeling

Without the smile, obviously

I'm not a scouser but I'd agree with this. "The world's against us" may be a good rallying call for a manager with his team but it doesn't work when fans do it. Just looks like excuse making and small time. Public conspiracy theories should be left to loons

any chance Drogba could take a leaf out of this book?

Schoolboy error....should have got El-Hadji Diouf involved

Benitez must make intentions clear - Smith - Soccer, Sport - Independent.ie Rafa Benitez must clarify his future at the club. Wednesday May 05 2010 Liverpool legend Tommy Smith has labelled the Reds' current campaign as "the season from hell" and pleaded with manager Rafael Benitez to clarify his future at the club. Liverpool are in turmoil both on and off the pitch, having failed to qualify for the Champions League and with uncertainty regarding the Anfield outfit's future ownership. And speculation continues to link Benitez with a move to Juventus at the end of a season that delivered another hard blow with Liverpool's elimination from the Europa League in the semi-finals last week. It has all been too much for Smith, who spoke out in his Liverpool Echo column. "Rafa has always said he loves the club, the fans and the city. For the sake of all three, he must now come out and make his intentions clear - one way or the other," Smith said. "Rafa has said nothing publicly to suggest he is still up for the challenge, ready to try and sort out the problems and go again. That is only adding to the anxiety and fuelling more controversy. "We all know the problems the American ownership has brought - and at times caused the manager. It can't have been easy for him to a degree but in truth he has made mistakes which cannot be blamed on (Tom) Hicks and (George) Gillett. "Not only has this campaign been the season from hell, with 19 defeats, the manager is giving every indication he has had enough and wants out. "One word sums up the whole, sorry state of affairs at Liverpool these days - embarrassing. "Granted, Rafa's bought some really good players - but others seem happy to pull on the red shirt yet have no idea what it means to wear it. "This squad isn't good enough and does not have enough depth to it. That is a crying shame because we've had such a strong spine with players like (Jose) Reina, (Jamie) Carragher, (Javier) Mascherano, (Steven) Gerrard and (Fernando) Torres to have built around." Smith, who made 638 appearances for the club, believes the fans deserve better. He added: "These Liverpool supporters are always there through thick and thin - and right now it is very thin times indeed for them all. "The manager must first come out and make his intentions clear. Then we have to pray that soon the club is sold to owners who have the clout to invest in it and get us back on track. "For the sake of those wonderful fans, I hope they get some good news soon. Because they deserve it." Press Association

Robbie Fowler ?

White van drivers will know....we should ask them

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Worst case scenario, that. I was thinking hamstring, cruciate, metatarsal or similiar