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
BABY ELEPHANT HAS FUN IN THE SUN

SPLASHING around in a paddling pool, this little elephant soaks up the sunshine .

LAZY LIZARDS RELAX AND POSE LIKE YODA

With one hand rested on his belly and the other propping his head up, this lazy lizard takes an afternoon break .

TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A 10 YR OLD: TEENAGE GIRL BORN WITHOUT HORMONES

She is about to start driving and soon will be able to legally buy alcohol and get married, but Poppy Webb-Jones still looks and thinks like a ten-year-old girl .

SNOOZING SEAL PUP

RESTING his weary head on his flipper, this little seal pup takes a much needed nap after an afternoon of strenuous yoga .

RARE BRONTE POEM FETCHES £92K AT AUCTION

A rare manuscript of one of Charlotte Bronte’s earliest poems went under the hammer today and fetched nearly £100,000 – double what it was expected to get .

I LOST HALF MY WEIGHT AND BECAME A WOMAN

Pinning a purple flower into her bleach blonde hair, pretty Ava admired herself in the mirror .

SISTERS BOTH HAVE 1 IN 3.5M DISEASE THAT IS TURNING THEM TO CRYSTAL

Meet the sisters who have both been diagnosed with a one in 3 .

BROTHER SEXUALLY ABUSED ME AGED 6 AND TOLD ME HE'D GET CANCER IF I DIDN'T LET HIM

Sophie Carr, 23, from Swindon, was just six when her older brother Alex, then 12, abused her during a game of mummies and daddies .

SPRITE LIGHTNING CAPTURED IN AURORA LIGHTS

The aurora lights captured in Blair Nebraska, America - WITH electrifying purple and illuminous green brightening up the night sky, this is the rare moment a flash of 'sprite' lightening was captured on camera .

CAN YOU TWERK IT OUT? - MILEY CYRUS LOOKALIKE

Walking down the street in her local town, heads turn as Jessica Villafane passes by .

CHEEKY FROG HITCHES A RIDE ON A SNAIL

A lazy tree frog, tired of hopping along a branch, chooses the slowest form of transport when it jumps on top of an unsuspecting snail .

ABANDONED DAIRY FARM'S EERIE PAST

HEARTWARMING belongings lie abandoned in this eerie former dairy farm which has been left to crumble away for decades .