Weird news: British woman sentenced for hijacking a ferry

She yelled "I'm Jack Sparrow!" while commandeering the boat

Published September 20, 2012 10:08PM (EDT)

    (Wikipedia)
(Wikipedia)

A British woman was sentenced to 112 days in jail for yelling "I'm Jack Sparrow" at police while stealing a ferry, which she then crashed.

In September 2011, Alison Whelan commandeered the Dart Princess on the River Dart in Devon, England. According to the BBC, "she had been drinking for two days and was eating hallucinogenic deadly nightshade, which is poisonous, magistrates were told."

Whelan, of course, was channeling the Johnny Depp character Captain Jack Sparrow, from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.

It took police about an hour to chase down and recover the boat, though in the process Whelan crashed it into two other boats, the Force Majeure and the Tomcat.

 


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

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Captain Jack Sparrow England Johnny Depp Pirates Of The Caribbean Weird News Weird News Of The Day