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
CALIFORNIAN GHOST TOWN OF BODIE HILLS FROZEN IN TIME
An intrepid photographer travelled to the abandoned ghost town of Bodie in northern California to capture the historic buildings that are trapped in time .
TEEN BOY FINALLY HITS PUBERTY AFTER ANOREXIA STUNTED HIS GROWTH
A student has finally hit puberty after a four year battle against anorexia stunted his growth .
WIFE CELEBRATES MARRIAGE BY SNOWBOARDING IN WEDDING DRESS
SNOWBOARDING in your £2,000 wedding dress sounds like a nightmare for most brides .
PUTIN'S TINY ARMY
Some parents would gasp at the thought of their children playing with a toy gun, but these Russian children are actually encouraged to take up real arms .
WORLD'S FIRST SIGN LANGUAGE RESTAURANT
A world's first restaurant has opened in Canada, where having your order fall on deaf ears is a good thing .
VIBRANT WOODPECKER FEEDS HER YOUNG
A middle spotted woodpecker swoops into her nest and feeds her young in a forest in Trentino, Italy .
CAMOUFLAGED NORTHERN POTOO BIRD IS A MASTER OF DISGUISE
A northern potoo shows it is a master of disguise as it perches on a tree stump and blends into the bark .
THE DEVIL'S OWN GOAL: CLUB RENAMES STADIUM IN SATAN'S NAME
football club has scored an own goal after it had to embarrassingly rename its stadium in honour of the DEVIL .
SNOWCAP SQUIRREL
WITH A LITTLE cap of fresh snow resting on his head, this squirrel tries his best to pull off his new look .
GIANT CANYON SWING
FORGET Thorpe Park this summer as this is a 50 mile-per-hour ride over the Colorado River CANYON .
JOLY THE WOLLY FALLS FOR PARKING PRANK
PRANKSTER Dom Joly was so livid when he was slapped with a parking ticket that he took to Twitter to vent his anger – only to discover he was the victim of his own gag! The comic got a taste of his own medicine when he was tricked by a fellow joker for the first time in a decade .
HUMAN CCTV COP BUSTS 130 CRIMINALS
Meet the human CCTV: a PCSO with a memory for faces so sharp he has apprehended more than 130 suspects in the last year alone with his eagle eyed talents .