Judge oversaw hearing on phone while driving
And other stories from the stranger side of life

A judge has been disciplined after he oversaw a court hearing on a hands-free mobile phone while driving. Christopher McMurtie was issued with a formal warning for having “failed to meet the expectation to avoid conduct which might reduce respect for judicial office,” said The Times. During the Covid lockdowns, many civil law hearings were conducted remotely.
Woman has glass tumbler in her bladder
A woman who thought she had a simple urinary tract infection discovered her problem was more complex when doctors discovered a glass tumbler inside her bladder. According to the Daily Star, the glass had apparently been put up there a few years ago for “sexual pleasure”. The object was removed via open surgery, and the 45-year-old Tunisian woman was discharged two days later.
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Statue value rises from £5k to £8m
A statue kept in a back garden and last sold for just £5,200 has been valued at up to £8 million. The marble figure of Mary Magdalene was commissioned in 1819. After it passed through various hands, surviving the 1937 fire at Witley Court, it was purchased in 1938 by Violet van der Elst, who kept it in her back garden. It has now been identified as a lost Antonio Canova masterpiece, said The Telegraph.
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