Sideswipe

Dumb and dumber: Luke Carroll (right) and Anthony Prince. See story below.

Investigators from the FBI and US police have revealed the full stupidity of the Australian and New Zealand bank robbers whose clumsy antics earned them the nicknames "Dumb and Dumber". Luke Carroll, 19, and New Zealand-born Anthony Prince, 20, pleaded guilty and were sent to prison for the March heist of WestStar Bank in Vail that netted them US$129,500 ($185,600). It emerged during their trial that during the robbery the two men wore badges similar to ones worn by staff at the ski shop where they worked. Minutes afterwards they used their ski passes to board a chair lift and the next day they were arrested at Denver International Airport, after photographing each other in the airport toilets in boastful poses holding wads of cash. FBI and Vail police yesterday revealed that following the robbery, Prince and Carroll tried, unsuccessfully, to buy jewellery with $5 bills at a Denver-area store before going to another where they bought a US$6000 diamond and a men's band for about US$750. Carroll and Prince then went to the airport with the intent to buy one-way tickets to Mexico, only to find out the flights had already left for the day. The men then went to a nearby hotel, but did not check in because they thought the rate was too expensive, said Vail Detective Ryan Millbern."So they went to another motel where they did spend the night and then in the morning they went back to [Denver airport] where they eventually were caught." Carroll and Prince also put at least $US13,500 in cash in the mail, authorities said. San Francisco postal officials intercepted US$6000. The rest was recovered when delivered to their homes in Australia.

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If Tuesday night's episode of Shortland Street sounded familiar it's no surprise. The gripping yarn involving teen Scarlett Valentine (Nicole Thomson) and her friend poisoned by their matching pair of insecticide-tainted jeans was the same storyline used on NBC's CSI-type show Medical Investigation, which aired earlier in the year on TV3.

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Television shows built around the obese (You Are What You Eat, The Biggest Loser) have paved the way for what's best described as the horror-lifestyle genre. BBC3's new series called Honey We're Killing the Kids graphically reveals to terrified parents the consequences of their kids' current sedentary lifestyles using the wonders of computer-generated imagery. Another could be Sky's programme called Change the Date You Die, which uses a death calculator idea to show overweight and unfit adults when they're likely to cark, and what they can do to prolong their lifespan.

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A 14-year-old Texas boy was "grounded for life" by his father and stepmother because he allegedly revealed family secrets. For normal parents this would mean no TV, phone, or car for a few months. In Lorenzo and Nadia Reid's house, "grounded for life" means not going to school for three years, living in the garage without heat, no access to a bathroom, and a lack of sufficient food and water. Because abuse is best learned at a young age, the boy's half-sisters, aged 7 and 4, were instructed to spy on him to make sure he didn't eat anything. Luckily for the teen, his 4-year-old sister disobeyed her parents and smuggled bread from her daycare centre so that he could eat something. (Source: parentsbehavingbadly.com)