Ever decided to tuck into a chocolate bar that you intend on buying as a means of keeping you going whilst doing a ‘big shop’ at the supermarket?
Don’t worry, you’re not the only one.
You may want to wait until you’ve left the shop next time though because, according to Rachel Adamson – Criminal Law Specialist at Adkirk Law in Southport – this actually is against the law and very few people even realise it.
Granted, now that the wearing of a face mask / covering is a mandatory requirement in all supermarkets and shops in England – with fines now sitting at £200 for a first offence (reducing to £100 if paid within 14 days) and increasing to a maximum of £6,400 for repeat offences – tucking into a packet of crisps, cereal bar, some grapes, or whatever your chosen snack is probably not feasible, but it’s right to assume it could be in the future.
Whenever that day comes though, you might want to think twice about it.
Just bear it in mind.
Flickr
It’s not the only seemingly innocent act that is actually against the law either, as Rachel adds that: “Worryingly, new legislation is also catching people out such as the illegal use of wi-fi, or the illegal downloading of music or certain documents, which now seem entirely natural to do without asking.
“It is also illegal to send unsolicited mail [by post] to another person without their consent under the data protection laws and people have been prosecuted for it.”
She added that we all need to “be careful” and that we should “consider the possible consequences before we engage into some of these things – you could be breaking the law on something important and end up in court.”
“Take advice first if you are in any doubt.”
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The man saving Manchester’s city pigeons from ‘stringfoot’
Daisy Jackson
A man has been patrolling the streets of Manchester to save our city’s pigeons from a condition known as ‘stringfoot’.
We all walk past hundreds of the birds every day in the city centre and they often get a bad rap – but one now-viral TikTok account is hoping to change all that.
In a series of heartwarming videos, one man has been heading out in his free time to treat pigeons afflicted with the dreaded ‘stringfoot’.
It’s a common sight now to see pigeons missing toes or walking around Manchester on deformed feet, which is often caused when the poor birds become tangled up in foreign matter.
Sometimes this is bits of string, plastic, thread, hair or a number of other things usually dropped by humans.
But with quick intervention from Tom, he can save these pigeons from a life of limping around town.
He’s been heading out armed with bags of seed to lure groups of pigeons close to him, before carefully catching the afflicted animal and carefully cutting away the material around its foot.
He uses things like stitch pickers to remove the thread, before cleaning up the pigeon’s foot with saline spray and antiseptic and gently releasing them again.
Tom said he started helping pigeons ‘sort of by accident’ when a bird with stringfoot came up to his flat.
In one month alone, he was able to catch and treat 15 pigeons, saving them from infection and injury.
And the account is getting lots of love and driving awareness for stringfoot and changing people’s perception of pigeons.
One person wrote on one of Tom’s videos: “We did pigeons so wrong as a society. Thanks for helping!”
Another said: “Pigeons Are NOT TRASH, they are a birds, who need help like cats, dogs and every living animals.”
And someone else commented: “These sort of videos make me cry because we’re so mean to pigeons, this might be the first time someone’s done something kind to them.”
You can find out more on how to help pigeons in your area HERE.
Benjamin Šeško quote resurfaces as Manchester United switch sole focus to pursuit of Slovenia star
Danny Jones
Slovenia striker Benjamin Šeško is now considered the primary transfer target for Manchester United for this summer window, as per multiple reports, and with the links only growing stronger as a quote relating to him and former RB Salzburg forward Erling Haaland has cropped back up.
Now on the books at the franchise club’s German counterpart in Leipzig, Šeško is one of the most highly sought-after talents in Europe at present, showing not only huge potential and a unique profile but already some impressive returns when it comes to goal contributions.
Although Haaland is ahead in terms of numbers, they do bear some resemblance in terms of height, physicality and speed for their size, and while they barely came across each other in the Red Bull setup – Šeško being loaned out to fellow Austrian side Liefering – they have drawn plenty of comparisons.
In fact, according to the 22-year-old himself, some feel he might just be “better” than the Norwegian phenomenon. At least that’s what some teammates and former colleagues are claimed to have said.
The retired defensive midfielder elaborated that Šeško was arguably the more natural all-round athlete, detailing that he has always been “smooth with the ball, very good technique, good finishing, and he jumps so high; very, very good with the head – it’s unbelievable.”
Aufhauser went on to add, however: “Erling was mentally a monster and better at the same age. This is the last five, 10 per cent that Benji has to get.”
It was also noted that while the emerging prospect may have just edged out the now fully-fledged Manchester City superstar in some departments at an early age, the big number nine always managed to find the back of the net more often.
He’s certainly kept that up in the years since then…
A 2022 quote from Šeško is all well and good, but Haaland has proved plenty of paper in just a few short years at the Etihad.
It’s also worth noting that the two attackers are not just pretty equally quick in a straight line, but both as tall as each other, clocking in at exactly 6ft 4in, with the Man City man barely three years his senior.
On the other hand, Šeško is known for keeping up multiple sports besides just football (basketball, in particular),
Besides their position, he told Amazon Prime Video Sport that he believes there is a lot of value not just in being sized up against the likes of Haaland but in trying to take cues from other pros in training, having also named a previous Red Devil himself as a key role model: one Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Most of this talk probably sounds all well and good to most United fans, but another key stumbling block in terms of a move for the budding young goalscorer is RB Leipzig’s supposed asking price, as the Bundesliga outfit is said to value him in the region of £70m.
Nevertheless, The Athletic now writes that INEOS and head coach Ruben Amorim are now solely focused on trying to sign Šeško, having previously narrowed it down to him and Premier League-proven Ollie Watkins.
Even if they get it done, the question is, will the confident forward suit English football as much as Watkins or dare we say Haaland – and furthermore, if they do, what might this mean for Manchester United’s current centre forwards?
Emily Sergeant -
29th September 2020 
