Wednesday, June 08, 2005

... *and* the horse you rode in on...

Sometimes it's just nice to know we haven't cornered the market on absurdity here in the US:

A student at Balliol College was arrested and detained in custody for a night after he verbally abused a police horse early on Monday morning. Sam Brown, a third year English student, had his fingerprints taken and was released with a fine of £80 following the incident which took place on Cornmarket Street.

Brown was fined for "causing harassment, harm or distress", after he repeatedly called the officer's horse "gay".

Brown and his friends, including former Balliol JCR President Daniel Konrad-Cooper had emerged from the Cellar Bar and were surprised to encounter two mounted policemen.

Brown inquired, "How do you feel about your horse being gay?" of one of the policemen, stating that his colleague's was clearly not gay. After repeated comments on the sexuality of his horse, and despite warnings from the policeman about his behaviour, Brown's offer of an apology to the horse was rejected and he was handcuffed and taken by the officers to the police station.

The arrest was made at 2.20am on Monday morning, and Brown was in a state which he described as "pissed out of my head".