News of the weird

Bum rap: Cheung Tat-kwong, 76, was convicted, in a court in Hong Kong, of the murder of his room-mate, but sentenced only to the eight months he had already served in jail while awaiting the trial. In letting him walk free, the judge said: "I am satisfied you have suffered enough." Cheung had beaten 75-year-old Wong Fai to death in a quarrel that began when Wong yelled at him to stop scratching his bottom.

TV crime: A Romanian man has been sentenced to two years in jail for stealing his own television set. Ferent Farcas, 41, had been waiting for four years to get the money for a black-and-white set he had sold to a man in the city of Bacau. Finally, he broke into the man's house and stole the set back. All thefts carry prison sentences in Romania. Mr Farcas has, however, lodged an appeal against the decision.

Flushed out: Robert Poole, 27, an inmate at the US penitentiary in Atlanta, was sentenced to an additional three years and eight months in jail after making an unsuccessful escape attempt. "An employee of the institution heard Poole call for help because his body was stuck in a sewer drain," the US Attorney's Office said.