Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe It's pregnancy, not gout -- woman shocked BAMPTON, England, March 11 (UPI) -- A British woman said she gave birth to her first child only 3 hours after doctors discovered she was pregnant, and not suffering from gout as they had thought. Advertisement Belinda Waite, 21, of Bampton, England, said she had been in and out of the hospital for 9 months with problems her doctors attributed to irritable bowel syndrome and gout -- and she was shocked Feb. 6 when doctors told her she was about 3 months pregnant, The Sun reported. Waite and husband Wayne Boyles, 28, said the hospital sent her home just before midnight but she was back 3 hours later to give birth to a healthy 8-pound, 14-ounce daughter. "I was really shocked. They told me to get some rest and make an appointment with the doctors the following Monday," Waite said. "Three hours later, Louise was born. I don't think Wayne could believe it was happening." Advertisement Officials at the hospital, run by National Health Service Devon, were unavailable for comment, The Sun said. No funds, no appeal in animal cruelty case NEW BEDFORD, Mass., March 11 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Massachusetts said financial constraints are the only reason they are declining to appeal the overturning of an animal cruelty conviction. Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said prosecutors disagree with New Bedford (Mass.) District Court Judge Thomas Kirkman's decision overturning the animal cruelty conviction of Joshua Linhares, 26, who was sentenced to one year of probation for running over a duck in a mall parking lot, The (New Bedford) reported. Sutter said his office does not have the funds to appeal the decision because of a $700,000 budget cut this fiscal year, which also caused seven people to lose their positions. "If this was a different time, we would appeal this decision in a heartbeat," Sutter said. "We, like virtually all governmental agencies, find ourselves in an era of limits." David Jorge, Linhares' lawyer, persuaded Kirkman to overturn the guilty verdict due to a lack of evidence indicating the motorist struck the duck on purpose. Men sue over snowball arrest NEW YORK, March 11 (UPI) -- Four young New York men charged with criminal possession of a weapon are suing police for false arrest following an incident that started with a snowball. Advertisement Johnathan Rodriguez, 22, Manuel Rondon, 18, Christian Perez, 19, and Ariel Lopez, 17, said they were playing in the snow during a February storm when a snowball got away from them and struck a man in the leg, the New York Daily News reported. The young men said the man, who they claim did not identify himself as off-duty transit Officer Adonis Ramirez, pulled out his gun and aimed at it at them. "I thought he was some drug dealer who was going to shoot me in the head and walk away," Perez said. "We only hit him once, and it was by mistake." Ramirez called for backup and the men, along with a 15-year-old whose name was not released, were arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon. The charges against the 15-year-old were dropped in Family Court. Neil Wollerstein, a lawyer for the men, said he is planning a $10 million lawsuit against the city for false arrest and malicious prosecution. The criminal complaint against the group says Ramirez was walking from a friend's apartment to his car when the young men hit him with several snowballs. The complaint says Ramirez drew his gun and identified himself as an officer after the group began running toward him and he heard one say, "Let's jump him," in Spanish. Advertisement However, the men said only one member of the group speaks Spanish. Macy's guard cut with broken dummy piece NEW YORK, March 11 (UPI) -- Authorities said one of the men arrested for a New York department store fight allegedly cut a guard's hand with a piece of broken mannequin. Police said Courtney Hardin and Rasheen McCoy, both 19, approached a married woman at the Herald Square Macy's at about 5 p.m. Saturday and McCoy allegedly threatened the woman when she told them to stop flirting with her, the New York Post reported. The woman's husband, Anthony Odom, 37, returned from another part of the store and a fight broke out between him and the two younger men. Security guard Joseph Boyce, 60, broke up the confrontation and in the process sustained a cut to his hand from a broken piece of a clothes dummy wielded by Hardin. The two 19-year-olds were arrested and charged with felony assault. McCoy was released without bond and Hardin was released after posting $3,000.
