Ecstasy causes violence - official!

The occasional hack-job newspaper story does try to claim that use of Ecstasy leads to violent behaviour on the part of the users, but personally I've seen zero evidence for this and much evidence against it. My old mates at the Daily Mail, however, have come up with a new twist on this line, with a story of a father who went ape-shit after being told that his 18-year-old daughter had been dropping pills at a nearby private party in October 2007. Charges that 55-year-old Geoffrey Atkins attacked two men and was in possession of a knife were dropped, but he has just been convicted of assaulting two girls - both the same age as his daughter - one of whom he actually bit on the cheek. Yeah, very civilised. Incredibly, though (or maybe not), the judge reckoned that businessman and local parish councillor Atkins's behaviour, "was borne out of a 'natural concern' for the safety of his daughter," and let him walk free with a 12-month conditional discharge and £200 in court costs.

And the daughter? Despite the Mail inevitably invoking the memory of Leah Betts, it turns out she was only drunk at the time. This seems to have subsequently become something of a hobby for her, since she was given an ASBO in November 2008, banning her from being in such a state in public for two years. Classy.