HUMAN OSTRICH.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 53, Issue 149, 5 April 1933, Page 2

HUMAN OSTRICH.

SWALLOWED EIGHT SPOONS. REFUSAL OF OPERATION. Part of a cutlery service and a few other equally indigestible articles were stated to have been swallowed by a man who appeared on remand at Blackpool, recently, charged with breaking into a wine store and stealing a bottle of whisky. The man, who denied the charge, was William Hudson aged 32, engineer, of no fixed abode. Everyone in court was astounded when the chief constable, Mr H. E. Derham, detailed the articles which Hudson had swallowed and which' had been located in his body by X-ray examination. They were? Six dessertspoons, two teaspoons, piece of chain, piece of tin, Tin. long, electric bellpush and three screws. "When Hudson was brought to this office," added the chief constable, "he feigned illness. Later he told the police surgeon he had swallowed the articles mentioned, and was at once taken to the Victoria Hospital and X-rayed. The plate showed that he had actually swallowed those things. He was detained in hospital, but while there he refused to undergo an operation to have them removed. He did not swallow them in Blackpool, but has had them "in his possession" since last November. "I do not want the public to think he has swallowed my spoons," added the chief constable. "I have not missed any. As a matter of fact, we do not keep any dessertspoons at the police station." Hudson, in a written statement to the magistrates, stated that he had come to Blackpool from Preston. While walking among Cheapside he noticed that a panel of the wine store had been broken, but the door was locked. He walked in through the broken window, but came out again without touching anything. He denied all knowledge of a screwdriver that was found in a backyard, and which, the police alleged, fitted certain marks near the lock of the shop door. Hudson was sen* for- trial to Prestdn Sessions.