An Austrian yodeller has been fined for yodelling while mowing his lawn because it offended his Muslim neighbours next door.
A judge decided Helmut Griese, 63, was 'ridiculing' their beliefs and fined him nearly £700.
Rather than face a protracted court case with all its attendant legal costs, Griese agreed to pay.
The court heard how the Muslim family regarded Griese as a 'grumpy old man' and came to view his open-air versions of the Alpine chanting as racist asides aimed at them.
'It was not my intention to imitate or insult them. I simply started to yodel a few tunes because I was in such a good mood' he told Austria‘s Kronen newspaper.
He was charged with the arcane offences of 'disparagement of religious symbols' - usually reserved for neo-Nazis who desecrate Jewish graves - and ‘hindering religious practice.‘
Just when you think that the legal world can't get any crazier, and just when you think that the concept of Being Offensive can't get any more absurd, and just when you think that Western societies can't pander any further to imagined grievances…
It even gives this fatuous case a run for its money, which went all the way to court before (briefly) a fleeting moment of common sense prevailed.
Just when you think that the legal world can't get any crazier, and just when you think that the concept of Being Offensive can't get any more absurd, and just when you think that Western societies can't pander any further to imagined grievances… I
there was a woman a few weeks ago from the midlands who used to knit toys and put them in her window. She got a visit from the police after someone reported a toy gorilla she had made was stuck in the window and it was offensive. A friend of mine who I used to live near to in Burton got a visit off them also because he had put his kid's collection of Nat West pigs in the window.
there was a woman a few weeks ago from the midlands who used to knit toys and put them in her window. She got a visit from the police after someone reported a toy gorilla she had made was stuck in the window and it was offensive. A friend of mine who
My mates dressed up for Readings last game of the season away at blackburn in 2008 i think it was. He dressed as a monkey, he got an on the spot fine and was made to remove the outfit.
I have told this story before.My mates dressed up for Readings last game of the season away at blackburn in 2008 i think it was. He dressed as a monkey, he got an on the spot fine and was made to remove the outfit.