Better to bite your tongue

Police in Poland have launched a nationwide hunt for a man who farted loudly when asked what he thought of the president.

Hubert Hoffman, 45, was charged with "contempt for the office of the head of state" for his actions after he was stopped by police in a routine check at a Warsaw railway station. He complained that under President Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother Jaroslaw, the country was returning to a Communist-style dictatorship.

When told to show more respect for the country's rulers, he farted loudly and was promptly arrested. Hoffmann was arrested and released on bail but failed to turn up at a Warsaw court early this week to be tried, and the judge in the case rejected an appeal by defense lawyers to throw the charges out.

A court spokesperson said: "Such a case of disrespect is taken very seriously." Instead the court ordered the police to start a nationwide hunt for the man, and interpol have been alerted.