Boy, 2, sentenced to six months

GEORGIE PORGIE would have been well advised to get a good a lawyer after a judge in Egypt sentenced a two-year-old boy to six months for pushing over a girl.

The accused, Ayman Hossam el-Hadari, narrowly escaped the long stretch inside with hard labour when a judge quashed the sentence, police in Alexandria said last night.

Once the mini defendant was produced in court on Saturday - only after his father had been accused of harbouring a fugitive - the judge dismissed the case.

Ayman's close shave with the law came after he was found guilty of pushing his little friend to the ground during the first of what will almost certainly be many playground encounters. The girl's mother, who has not been named, filed a lawsuit claiming assault.

His fate then took a further twist as the criminal court trial judge passed sentence without actually seeing the accused or reading the prosecutor's report. The judge's decision was based on a medical report showing his victim's injuries and the mother's testimony.

Following the court hearing last October, police were dispatched to Mr el Hadari's house to accuse Ayman's father, Hossam, of harbouring a fugitive from justice.

When the two went to court at the weekend, the judge asked to see the defendant. When the father handed over the child, the judge dismissed the case.