Cop Named "Martyr" After Dying of Alcohol

BEIJING: Though he did not die giving a hot chase to getaway robbers or stopping lawbreakers, yet a Chinese traffic police officer was named a 'martyr' after dying due to heavy drinking at a banquet.

Chen Lusheng, a police sergeant in Shenzhen traffic police in Guangdong Province in southern China was deemed to have died a martyr "in the line of duty" after he was made to attend a banquet by senior party officials for his ability to hold his liquor, the 'China Daily' reported.

Chen became the target of his hosts who repeatedly asked him to "genbei" or "bottoms up" as toast after toast were raised, the report said.

The officer was off-duty when he was invited to a drink- binge. Chen vomited and passed out on a couch and suffocated. He later died in hospital.

His death touched panic among his party official hosts who decided to make him a martyr, in an apparent attempt to meet his family's demand for more compensation.

The daily said after being pressurized by his family the police designated Chen a martyr, so that his family was illegible for a compensation of upto 650,000 yuan (USD 95,000) in compensation, almost double the amount he would have got on death as a working sergeant.

Fart Sparks Gas Scare

SYDNEY: A flatulent pig sparked a gas emergency in southern Australia when a farmer mistook its odours for a leaking pipe, officials said

Fifteen firefighters and two trucks were called to a property at Axedale in central Victoria state after reports of a gas leak, the Country Fire Service said.

"When we got there, as we drove up the driveway, there was this huge sow, about a 120-odd kilo (265-pound) sow, and it was very obvious where the gas was coming from," said fire captain Peter Harkins.

"We could not only smell it, but we heard it and it was quite funny."

Harkins said the pig's owner was "a little bit embarrassed to say the least," and it took fire crews a little while to compose themselves.

"It was fairly obvious what it was. I think we dealt with it fairly professionally and had a bit of a giggle when we got back to the station," he told public broadcaster ABC.

Sex with Horse Lands Man in Prison for 3 years

SOUTH CAROLINA: A South Carolina man caught on video having sex with a horse was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison after pleading guilty for the second time in two years to abusing the creature. Rodell Vereen was also ordered never to go near the stable, where the horse's owner caught him and held him for authorities at shotgun point over the summer. He apologized to the woman and to himself after admitting to buggery at the Horry County courthouse. "I'm sorry about what I've done. I didn't mean to do it. It's my fault. I'm sorry for what I've done to myself," Vereen said during Wednesday's court hearing. Vereen was arrested in July after Barbara Kenley caught him entering the barn at Lazy B Stables in Longs, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Myrtle Beach. She had been staking out the stable for more than a week after setting up a surveillance camera and videotaping Vereen's assault on her 21-year-old horse named Sugar. Kenley said she became suspicious because her horse was acting strange and getting infections, and she noticed things were moved around the barn and dirt was piled up near the horse's stall. It wasn't the first time she'd caught Vereen. In late 2007, Kenley found him asleep in the hay after assaulting her horse. For that offence, he also pleaded guilty to buggery, received probation and had to register as a sex offender. On Wednesday, the judge sentenced Vereen to five years in prison, but he will only have to serve three years behind bars as long as he successfully completes two years of probation. Vereen also was ordered to undergo additional mental treatment after he gets out of prison and was told to stay away from Kenley's stable. Kenley told The Sun News of Myrtle Beach she was mostly happy with the verdict, but wished Vereen had got more prison time. "I've been through hell for the last year and it's caused a lot of hardship," Kenley told the newspaper. "There's a lot of ridicule and jokes going around about this thing. And a person can only take so much."

Source: Fox News