Clowns and… crimes, insurance, botox, whatnot
The Manchester Evening News reports on a “Bizarre spate of clown-related crimes reported across region” (thanks to investigator Adam K. Olson for bringing it to our attention.):
Police dealt with 19 incidents involving people dressed as clowns last year, and most were no laughing matter. Disguised with colourful wigs and white facepaint, smiling crooks carried out bogus charity collections, vandalised property and even carried out robberies, an FOI has revealed. In one of the most serious incidents, recorded in Stockport last November, a man dressed as a clown threatened someone with a knife to steal their bicycle.
The newspaper categorizes these incidents by borough:
Rochdale – 6 including four of suspicious circumstances involving clowns
Stockport – 4 including highway disruption and criminal damage
North Manchester – 3 including one hoax call
Bury – 2 both suspicious circumstances
The other four calls were from Bolton, Tameside, south Manchester and Oldham respectively.
Clowns figure in modern life in ways often unappreciated by many non-clowns. Among those we have noticed:
- Clown insurance
- Clowns and kids and botulinum toxin
- The ministry of clowns
- Corporate tiers of a clown
BONUS: A possibly inaccurate listing of clowns in Stockport