Junk News of the Day

SYDNEY (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 Friday.
Robert Cole, 37, fasted and used laxatives to lose some 30 pounds before he squeezed through a hole he had chiseled with a butter knife to escape from a hospital in a Sydney maximum security prison in January.
Weighing just 123 pounds, 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.
Cole's lawyer Richard Leary told the New South Wales District Court that his mentally ill client -- jailed on theft and assault charges -- had acted naively after failing to convince authorities he was fit for release, Australian Associated Press reported.
"He committed this offence in a vain hope to show authorities that he can survive outside," Leary said.
Judge Roger Dive described Cole's offence as serious and jailed him for 21 months.
"It has involved some time-consuming efforts and planning and preparation," Dive said.
Cole's sister Denise Roberts, an Australian actress, said he had long suffered from drug-induced psychosis. She said her brother had put on a lot of weight since his recapture.