HUMAN OSTRICH

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11913, 6 April 1933, Page 3

HUMAN OSTRICH

SWALLOWED EIGHT SPOONS. REFUSAL OF OPERATION Part"of' the "cutlery' service and afew other equally digestible, articles \TCre 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, w r ,as William Hudson, ■ aged. 32, engineer, of no fixed address- ,

Everyone in the court was astounded <when the chief constable, Mr 11. E. Derham, detailed the articles' which Hudson had swallowed, and which had been located In bis body by N-ray examination. They wore: Six dessertspoons, two teaspoons •piece.of' chain, piece of tin, 7m. long, electric push-bell 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 lie 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-

l‘l do nob want the public to think he lias swallowed my spoons,” added the chief constable. “I have not missed any. As a matter of fact, w r e do not keep any dessertspoons at the police station.” Hudson, in a written .statement to the magistrates, gtated that he had come to Blackpool from PrestonWhile walking along Cheapside he noticed that a panel of the wine store had been broken, but the door wad locked. Ho walked through the broken window, but came out again, without touching anything; He denied all knowledge: of’ © screwdriver that was, found "in a-backyard and; which, the police alleged, fitted ceitain marks near the lock of the .shop door.■ ' Hudson was sent for trial to Pres-, flan Sessions'.