THUG WHO BEAT UP SOLDIER JAILED FOR 9 YEARS
N evil mugger who battered a Birmingham old soldier and fled with just £40 has been jailed for nine years. Frail Bill Hopkins, 79, suffered a broken jaw in the cowardly attack outside his home last November. Mugger Richard Christie , 48, pounced on the pensioner from behind, repeatedly punching and kicking him in the head. He ran off with the OAP's wallet - which contained the cash, bank cards and a card from his late wife's memorial service.
Other great stories
WELSH HOTEL ONCE HOME TO WWI SOLDIERS NOW LIES ABANDONED
A grand 56-bedroom hotel, once heaving with injured soldiers during the First World War, now lies completely abandoned .
RING OF FIRE ECLIPSE IN OZ
THIS RING of fire in the sky is the annular solar eclipse that wowed our cousins down-under .
ENDANGERED GORILLA BORN AT TWYCROSS ZOO
A proud gorilla mum welcomes her newborn baby western lowland gorilla, a critically endangered species .
SEAL GETS READY FOR HIS CLOSE UP
WIDE EYED and staring straight down the lens of the camera, this intrigued seal is ready for his close up .
ADORABLE DOLPHINS VISIT AUSTRALIAN BEACH FOR BREAKFAST
SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .
MONKEY WITH UNCANNY RESEMBLANCE TO MARVEL COMICS’ WOLVERINE
WITH his spiked ears and yellow and blue body, a colourful monkey bears an uncanny resemblance to Marvel Comics’ Wolverine .
POLAR BEARS HAVE A SPLASHING TIME
Playing, splashing and generally messing around, these polar bears show they certainly have a soft spot for the water, and not just each other .
STAR-TI-LING: 40,000 STARLINGS MIMIC HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS
STAR-TI-LING: 40,000 STARLINGS MIMIC HITCHCOCK'S THE BIRDS- This could be the fearsome scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds as a flock of 40,000 starlings bask in the heat of a wonderful British sunset .
SEXY TRAFFIC GIRLS OF NORTH KOREA
WITH their robotic movements and pristine uniforms, these are the sexy traffic girls of North Korea that are becoming iconic figures in the secretive state .
BRITISH COUPLE FIRST TO TIE THE KNOT INSIDE A GLACIER
A BRITISH couple are the first to tie the knot inside an enormous GLACIER in Iceland .
SIBLING RIVALRY
SURROUNDED by a snowstorm, these young polar bears battle the elements - as well as each other .
PEE-TRIFIED: WOMAN HAS IRRATIONAL FEAR OF TOILETS
A woman with an irrational fear of toilets goes POTTY on the loo and runs away when she flushes, terrified it will swallow her up .