UFO Info Week-End

Woods a former electrician has now left Britain for South Africa to be with his wife

Woods, a former electrician, has now left Britain for South Africa to be with his wife and nine-year-old boy.Detective Constable Dave Job, of Leyton CID, said: “It would have been nice to have put this forward as a test case, as we think no jury would have considered it right or proper. He has been freed from Brixton prison in south London, where he was on remand, after the CPS decided there was not enough evidence to conclude the case successfully.Despite reams of evidence from investors, Woods cannot be tried because he ultimately did send certificates – however worthless – to those who sent him money.The outcome has infuriated police and council officials. He was arrested on a host of charges including theft and deception after a joint operation by police and trading standards officers.Investigators said Woods had devised similar schemes in the past, including guides for garages, florists, takeaways and hairdressers.But Woods appears to have had the last laugh. That day’s mailbag alone contained another pounds 20,000 from delighted restaurateurs.Using a PC and expensive printer, Woods had sent certificates to restaurants he had culled from a Thomson directory CD database. Owners were unctuously congratulated and the money flowed in.For many restaurants, from the humblest of back-street cafes to high- street brasseries, it seemed too good to be true Alas, it was. The certificates were worth no more than the paper they were printed on and the guide never existed.At the height of the scam, it is thought Woods cashed up to pounds 5,000 a week from cheques that rolled in to his first-floor flat in Leyton, east London.When trading standards officers caught him in July they found pounds 80,000 in uncashed cheques.

Alistair Woods is thought to have netted as much as pounds 500,000 through a simple ruse that milked its victims through flattery.
He simply wrote to restaurants, saying they had passed a secret inspection and were entitled to a special certificate and inclusion in the forthcoming “1998 Good Restaurant Guide” – all for just pounds 19. A CONMAN who fooled more than 10,000 restaurants across Britain into parting with cash for worthless “Good Restaurant Guide” certificates has left the country after the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to press charges. Some members were said to be unhappy that the secrecy surrounding the society and magic tricks had gone too far.. David Berglas on the other had is a “mentalist”, known for his memory skills, who has held the title unchallenged since 1989.In his victory speech, Mr Bailey vowed to make the Circle more popular, up to date and better known by the public. Mr Bailey is said to lead a “reformist” faction which wants to spruce up the society.

I think whoever it was shot himself in the foot.”The results of the postal vote last night followed speculation of real rivalry between the two contenders. He said: “One supporter of Mr Berglas sent out a lot of letters that were condemnatory about Michael Bailey .. but Mr Berglas had no connection with this person. But he changed his mind and decided to run against Mr Bailey, a retired advertising executive who masterminded a campaign to raise pounds 1.8 million for the Centre of Magic Arts – a Lottery-funded museum and base for the society – which opened three months ago.Mr Berglas, 72, told The Independent that he had been encouraged to join battle by members anxious to preserve the status quo.A Magic Circle spokesman last night hinted darkly at behind-the-scenes machinations that had swung the election. Never before has a president been vanished from the head of the notoriously secretive organisation. They have, until now, only been replaced on their death by a “clear” election.
The end of a long-running battle between the present incumbent, David Berglas, and his reforming challenger, Michael Bailey, ended last night with a 2-to-1 victory for the new man.Members were said to be “surprised” by the result, announced last night at the annual general meeting at the society’s headquarters in Euston, London.Mr Berglas, who pipped television magician Paul Daniels to the post nine years ago, had said he would not stand for election, preferring to step aside for a newcomer.

THE MAGICIAN who beat Paul Daniels to the job of president of the Magic Circle has been deposed by his vice president, in a sleight of hand unknown in the 94-year history of the magicians’ society. It will be available to NHS patients at a cost of pounds 7,000 to their health authorities. An older machine has been used in trials at Sheffield University, chiefly for arterial malformations of the brain Worldwide, an estimated 80,000 patients have been treated.. Primary brain tumours throw off malignant cells, which cannot be mopped up by the radiosurgery technique.The pounds 2.5m machine acquired by the private Cromwell Hospital is the first to be installed in Britain exclusively for clinical use. The Gamma Knife uses a much higher dose of radiation, which destroys both healthy and cancer cells.However, in the case of cancer, it is suitable only for secondary brain tumours that have spread from elsewhere in the body and are well defined in the brain. Radiotherapy relies on the biological principle that healthy cells recover after a (relatively) low dose of radiation but cancer cells do not.

Its use is limited by the need to hold the target organ rigid, though that may change in future.Radiosurgery is different from radiotherapy, which delivers a lower dose of radiation to a wider area to mop up any cancer cells remaining after conventional surgery. In the case of cancer it is essential that the whole tumour is eliminated.The device has been tried for the treatment of liver cancer, spinal tumours and pancreatic cancer. If the wrong tissue is destroyed, the consequences could be disastrous. The head is held rigid in a metal frame that is screwed (under local anaesthetic) into the skull, and a computerised imaging system establishes co-ordinates for the tissue to be destroyed. Our grandchildren won’t believe that is what we did.”The Gamma Knife focuses 200 separate rays of radiation in the head.