AND FINALLY 655

Things just go from bad to worse for spoiled brat Otis Ferry. The rabidly pro-hunt Z-list celeb (his dad was in something called Roxy Music) has been on remand for eight weeks, and this could stretch out to being inside for six months - until his trial on March 9th 2009.

While his Tory MP and brother are laughingly calling him a ‘political prisoner’ for his opposition to the Fox Hunting ban, this is hardly a case for Amnesty International.

He is in fact being prosecuted for attacking a hunt monitor and stealing their camera back in November 2007 (See SchNEWS 630), and on top of that attempting to nobble a witness – perverting the course of justice - which hardly points to a clear conscience on Ferry’s part. He is accused of intimidating former hunt groomsman David Hodgkiss into withholding incriminating evidence against Ferry and threatening to discredit him as a ‘disgruntled ex-employee’.

Ferry’s mother is worried about him, saying that he “loves the outdoors so much” - but he himself has countered this by claiming that prison is a walk in the park, likening it to boarding school (he went to Eton). He is quoted as saying “Contrary to popular belief, prison life is not tough, and in this namby-pamby society we even get our own televisions...” and - of his fellow inmates - “We don’t have much in common. There are not many countrymen.”

This week he was due to have a bail hearing, but for some reason his barrister withdrew his move for bail – probably because it didn’t have a leg to stand on. So, it’ll be a glorious Gloucester Prison lunch for Christmas then...