A German schoolgirl has been locked away for deliberately missing school.

Maggie Haineder, aged just 15, had skipped school for more than three weeks. After other forms of punishment failed, the Saxony judge felt there was no other option but jail.

“She had a fine, which she did not pay. Then she asked for the fine to be converted into doing social work, which she did not do,” Judge Andreas Pech said.

“Now she has to go to jail. A prison sentence was the last resort. Everything else failed.”

The girl must now serve two weeks to make up for the three she missed.

Diplomat's dog shot for fun

If you ever get posted in a diplomatic position in Bulgaria, be sure to leave the beloved family pooch at home.

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Yuri Trushin, Russia’s consul in the city of Russe, is up in arms over the shooting of his pet Labrador, Mecho, by park wardens who were trying to kill some time.

“I have written to the local police to express my anger, and also urged the Russian foreign ministry to get involved and do something over this,” an outraged Trushin said.

“I am going to meet other members of the Russian diplomatic corps in the next few days to tell them all about the kind of travesties here.”

Shop owners fight robber with peas

A man armed with a hammer was prevented from robbing a UK milk bar when the owners fought back with the awesome power of peas.

As the BBC reported, a 21-year-old named Kieran Naylor entered the shop in Bolton with a mask and a hammer with the intention of raiding the till.

The Breightmet Lucky Supper Bar owners, both in their 60s, were serving customers when Naylor stormed in and struck one of them twice on the head with the hammer. But when he moved to the till, he slipped on peas that had been spilt on floor.

As the thief scrambled for the cash register, the owners threw a pan of scalding hot water on him, causing him to flee from the store.

Naylor received a three year sentence for assault with intent to commit robbery, which will go nicely with the burns to his arm, neck and chest.

Onlooker cabbie has taxi destroyed by rescuers

Three accident victims who were resting in a nearby taxi were carved from the vehicle when rescuers could have simply opened the door instead.

The Swedish cabbie had been on the scene when the accident occurred, and offered his back seat to the injured people while he took a closer look.

“They had a few cuts and bruises and I let them shelter in my cab. They looked worse than they were,” cabbie Peter Andersson said.

But when the rescue services arrived, they used the ‘jaws of life’ to extract the victims when they could have quite easily opened the doors.

“I went off to look at the wreck and when the firemen turned up, they pulled out hydraulic metal cutters and sliced the side off the cab,” he said.

“They said it meant they could get the people out without them having to bend too much, in case of neck injuries, they didn't realise they only had to open the door.”

To make matters worse, the insurance company is now disputing the truthfulness of Andersson’s claim.

Robber takes bite out of the law

A Kiwi man trying to avoid arrest bit a police dog before it got the chance to bite him.

The man and his companion were chased by police who suspected they were responsible for robbing a convenience store in Napier, The Dominion Post said.

When cornered by Edge — the German shepherd police dog that is, not the guitarist from U2 — one of the men decided to get in early and bite the dog. Far from being intimidated, Edge bit back.

“The dog did win the fight,” Detective Sergeant John McGregor told the paper.

This was not the first time Edge was attacked in the line of duty. A year earlier he was stabbed by another thief, his injuries requiring surgery.

Man tries to bail himself out with drugs

After being arrested for speeding and dug possession, a Canadian man unwittingly offered police more drugs in attempt to bail himself out of jail.

When Nakia Davis, 32, of Danbury, was stopped on Interstate 84 in Southbury for speeding, his luck went from bad to worse. According to The Canadian Press, police sniffer dogs detected marijuana in his car, and then a quick search of his pockets netted 48 grams of cocaine.

So when he was offered bail at C$5,000 ($5,466), Davis called his aunt and asked her to bring his safe to the police station. But when the police opened it to get the cash, they found another 16 grams of cocaine and drug paraphernalia.

Davis was charged with possession of narcotics with intent to sell; possession of drug paraphernalia, cocaine, and marijuana; and the original offence of speeding. He was eventually bailed when another relative came to his rescue, this time with cash only.

Macedonian pair bridge stupidity gap

Two enterprising Macedonians engineered their own downfall when they tried to sell two bridges they stole to a scrapyard.

David Gorgievski and Nikodim Bozinovski spent a good few months deconstructing two 30ft bridges that spanned the Crna Reka and Rajec rivers, one piece at a time.

Then, after the 200 tonnes of steel was loaded onto 20 trucks, they casually pulled into the local scrapyard with an invitation to buy.

Perhaps their explanation of exactly how they came across 20 trucks worth of steel, going cheap, was unconvincing, but the scrap yard dealer grew suspicious and the police were promptly called.

Gorgievski and Bozinovski have since been arrested and are awaiting trial.