Diet for freedom

Sydney, Oct. 20 (Reuters): An Australian prisoner who went on a crash diet so he could squeeze his way out of jail escaped to show authorities that he could go straight on the outside, a court heard today.

Robert Cole, 37, fasted and used laxatives to lose some 14 kg before he squeezed through a hole he had chiselled with a butter knife to escape from a hospital in a Sydney prison in January.

Weighing just 56 kg, Cole squeezed through the hole he had made between brickwork and a window frame, scaled a razor-wire fence, walked along a prison wall and then jumped to freedom. He was recaptured three days later.

Sane habit

London (Reuters): Pop star George Michael said smoking cannabis kept him “sane and happy” and appeared to light up a joint during an interview on Britain’s ITV news channel, ITV said on Friday. It added that Michael “sparked up” backstage at a gig in Madrid during ITV’s South Bank Show. “George defends his dope habit, saying it keeps him sane and happy. But he admits it’s not very healthy,” ITV said.

Moss style

London: The graffiti artist Banksy has set a new auction record for his work after a bidding frenzy at Sotheby’s in London, reports The Times. A series of Kate Moss pictures, in which the supermodel is depicted in the style of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe prints, fetched £50,400. The Moss pictures had been estimated to fetch between £10,000 and £15,000.