
Deadly African scorpion is found by horrified Brit woman after it ‘crawled past her feet' while she watched TV
A WOMAN has been left terrified after returning home from holiday and discovering a "deadly" scorpion in her home.
It is believed the scorpion hitched a ride back in her luggage when she returned from a holiday in Africa.
Advertisement
4
The woman spotted the terrifying scorpion crawling across her floor
Credit: Facebook
4
The small creature packs a venomous punch
Credit: Swindon Community Notice Board/Facebook
The deadly scorpion was discovered in a Swindon home earlier this month.
It was reportedly spotted by the homeowner as she sat watching TV with the scorpion crawling across her carpet right under her nose.
The terrified homeowner bravely trapped it under a wine glass before transferring it into a jar where it was safely kept until help arrived.
The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was called and recommended the woman speak to a specialist.
Advertisement
Jonathan Cleverly who provides educational workshops for schools featuring insects, reptiles and invertebrates was eventually scrambled to deal with the African scorpion.
Jonathan took the creature away after identifying it as a member of the Buthidae family which several of the most deadly scorpion species in the world are also a part of.
After getting the deadly creature home Jonathan made sure to keep it locked up safely before finding it a new home.
Jonathan owns several scorpions himself and was well prepared with the proper equipment to transport the deadly animal.
Advertisement
He dismissed the idea that the animal was an escaped pet, believing it snuck into the UK in the woman's luggage.
The dangerous creatures are commonly found in Africa from where the homeowner had recently returned.
The scorpion has since been taken to live with an expert who has a DWA (Dangerous Wild Animals) licence.
Moment student finds deadly Chinese SCORPION inside her parcel
It was estimated to be around 4cm long with Jonathan calling it the "most dangerous animal" he ever had.
Advertisement
Speaking to the BBC Jonathan said: "She'd [the homeowner] done a brilliant job of moving it from a wine glass into a jam jar with a secure lid so it couldn't move and escape.
"She put in some lettuce for a bit of moisture. She looked after it brilliantly well.
"The scorpion, I would like to say, is absolutely gorgeous - even if it is potentially harmful to humans, it's a very rare thing for these sorts of scorpion to make their way into the UK."
4
The homeowner managed to contain the scorpion until help arrived
Credit: Swindon Community Notice Board/Facebook
Advertisement
4
The deadly scorpion is believed to be a member of the Buthidae family
Credit: Facebook
The six legged creature boasts a pair of fearsome looking claws and a large, venomous stinger on its tail.
Coming in at just 4cm the scorpion is small but deadly with the species occasionally causing human fatalities.
When fully grown the scorpion can reach a terrifying 12cm, more than twice the size of the one found in Swindon.
Advertisement
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Urgent search for missing girl, 14, who vanished on her own after night with pals in major UK city
Police are urging anyone with information about the teenager's whereabouts to get in touch immediately FRANTIC HUNT Urgent search for missing girl, 14, who vanished on her own after night with pals in major UK city POLICE are urgently searching for a 14-year-old girl who disappeared after spending the night with friends in a major UK city. Lucia, from Swansea, was last seen in Cardiff on June 14, just before midnight near Penylan Library, heading towards Wellfield Road. The teenager had been with friends but left the area on her own. She has been described as 5ft 6, with a slim build and long black hair. Lucia was wearing a white skirt, a cream puffer jacket, an orange top and possibly white Converse trainers at the time she went missing. Anyone with information about Lucia's whereabouts is urged to contact South Wales Police, quoting reference 2500188167. 1 Lucia, 14, is described as 5ft 6, with a slim build and long black hair Credit: South Wales Police More to follow... For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video. Like us on Facebook at and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.


The Herald Scotland
3 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Who is the man wanted in the Minnesota lawmaker assaults? What we know
Minnesota authorites say they believe it was Boelter who impersonated law enforcement to gain access to the victims' homes, exchanged gunfire with police and fled on foot outside Minneapolis. David Carlson, 59, told Reuters that he has been sharing a house in Minneapolis with Boelter for a little more than a year and last saw him on Friday night. Then about 6 a.m. on Saturday, he received a text from Boelter. "He said that he might be dead soon," said Carlson, who called police. Carlson, who has known Boelter since fourth grade, said Boelter worked for an eye donation center and stayed at the house because it was close to his job. Carlson said he feels betrayed by Boelter and heartbroken for the victims, adding: "His family has got to suffer through this." The cryptic message sent to his roommate is just one of many unanswered questions surrounding Boelter. Officials have described the attacks as a politically motivated assassination. Boelter, who is considered armed and dangerous, is being sought by authorities following the "targeted shootings" at lawmakers' homes in Brooklyn Park and Champlin, two neighboring suburban cities. The shootings killed state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, while wounding State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Both lawmakers are members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Brooklyn Park Police Chief Mark Bruley said the suspect exchanged gunfire with police and fled on foot outside of Minneapolis. Bruley added that the suspect also had an SUV that is identical to real police vehicles, as well as an official-looking vest, outfit and equipment. Boelter lived just outside of Green Isle, a Minnesota city of around 600 people that's about an hour southwest of the Twin Cities, Mayor Shane Sheets told USA TODAY. Green Isle is a small community, Sheets said. Boelter had no known political involvement or affiliation in the city, he said. Online, Boelter presented himself as a security expert who had also worked for global companies. A LinkedIn page believed to belong to him showed he attended St. Cloud State University. University spokesperson Zach Dwyer confirmed Boelter graduated in 1996. He also appeared as a speaker for a Minnesota nonprofit serving African immigrant communities. Minnesota Africans United, a Brooklyn Park nonprofit, said in a statement that Boelter participated in an August 2022 virtual webinar about trade and investment in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Boelter's participation as a speaker was facilitated by a third-party, the statement said. He was never hired, paid or contracted by the nonprofit, which had no contact with him since the one-time appearance. A biography for the session described Boelter as having worked in Congo and for a security guard company. In 2019, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz named Boelter to his Governor's Workforce Development Board. The governor's website said the board assists in "developing, implementing, and modifying the State plan, review of statewide policies and programs, providing recommendations on actions to align and improve the workforce development system and programs," among other matters. The governor's website listed Boelter as a "business and industry representative." His appointment was effective from December 2019 to January 2023, according to a notice. A spokesperson for Walz said the governor's office appoints thousands of people of all parties to boards and commissions. The workforce development board has over 60 people on it. They are unpaid, external boards created by the legislature, and Walz doesn't interview applicants, the spokesperson said. They aren't appointments to a position in the governor's cabinet, the spokesperson said. Praetorian Guard Security Services, a residential armed home security company in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, listed Boelter as director of security patrols for the company, according to its website. The company offered licensed armed security patrols, uniformed security and event security, with the latter service coming soon. "We drive the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the U.S.," the website said. "Currently we drive Ford Explorer Utility Vehicles." An email and phone call to Praetorian was not immediately returned Saturday. Officials said the suspect's SUV appeared to look like a police vehicle when officers responded. In the SUV, police found writings listing the names of other officials and papers saying "No Kings," an apparent reference to ongoing protests across the United States. The state Department of Public Safety had requested people in Minnesota to stay home from all planned demonstrations on Saturday, Gov. Tim Walz said. In a post last month, the LinkedIn account believed to belong to Boelter said he was looking for work in the food industry. Corey Schmidt of The St. Cloud Times, part of the USA TODAY Network, contributed to this report.


Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Nine key questions could decide fate of beef Wellington mushroom 'poisoner'
Erin Patterson has been accused of intentionally poisoning several family members and her eight-day cross-examination in the murder trial has come to an end The world has been gripped by the murder trial of an Australian woman that came after several people died after eating a homemade beef Wellington that is said to have contained poisonous death cap mushrooms. Erin Patterson denies intentionally poisoning three relatives and attempting to kill a fourth by serving them a meal containing toxic death cap mushrooms at her home in Victoria on July 29, 2023. Prosecutors have alleged she deliberately included the poisonous mushrooms in the meal, but her defence insists it was a tragic accident - saying Patterson may have accidentally included mushrooms she had foraged herself. Within a week of the meal, three of the guests had died and the fourth was in hospital. Patterson, 50, was questioned by police shortly after the deaths and she was arrested around a month later. Her alleged victims were her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson, both aged 70, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson, 66. Ian Wilkinson, the uncle of Patterson's estranged husband, also fell seriously ill but survived after weeks of treatment. These are the nine key questions that could determine how the jury vote. Where were the toxic mushrooms from? Both the prosecution and defence have accepted the potentially deadly death cap mushrooms were in the beef wellington. During the initial police investigation, Patterson denied being a forager and her children told cops they had never seen her pick mushrooms. This completely shifted in the witness box as Patterson claimed that was untrue and said she had picked wild mushrooms since the 2020 Covid lockdown. Her lawyer, Colin Mandy SC, asked if she accepted that the beef Wellington pastries she had served to her lunch guests in 2023 contained death caps. "Now I think there was a possibility there were foraged ones in there," she replied. How did the mushrooms get into the dish? Prosecutor Nanette Rogers told the court how Patterson had posted in Facebook groups about using a food dehydrator to reduce the size of mushrooms to use in cooking. Patterson posted that she had been "hiding powdered mushrooms in everything". The jury was also shown a CCTV photo showing Erin Patterson at her local tip on August 2 - days after the fatal meal. Among the things she was seen disposing of was a large black box. When inspected a couple of days later, a staff member found a black Sunbeam dehydrator, Nanette Rogers says. Fingerprints were found on the dehydrator and compared to Ms Patterson's, Dr Rogers says - and they matched. It also tested positive for death cap mushrooms, the jury was told. Did she secretly hate her in-laws? Prosecutors have not identified a "particular" motive in this case but the court heard about issues Patterson faced with her ex-husband Simon's family. The couple were married in 2007 and separated in 2015 but initially had a close relationship even after they split. This changed in 2022 when Simon described himself as "single" on a tax return and affected her ability to claim tax breaks. Patterson asked her in-laws to get involved and they were reluctant to, which led to arguments between them. She posted a series of raging posts on Facebook around that time including: "I'm sick of this s**t. I want nothing to do with them. I thought his parents would want him to do the right thing, but it seems their concern about… not wanting to get involved in their son's personal matters, are overriding that. So f**k them." How was the meal served? The court was told the four guests were handed their meal on a grey plates while Patterson had hers on an orange plate. The suspect has denied these claims and told the court she did not own any grey dishes. She told the court the meal was served up on a mixture of black and white plates. Despite this, footage from a police search of her home appeared to show two grey plates next to the dishwasher. Did she vomit after the meal? Patterson told the court she had bulimia and ate several slices of an orange cake her 70-year-old in-law brought for dessert. She told the court: "I kept cleaning up the kitchen and putting everything away and, um, I had a piece of cake and then I had another piece of cake. And then another." She told the court she ate all of the cake and "felt sick. I felt over-full. So I went to the toilets and brought it up again". Was she genuinely sick? Patterson said she was hit with diarrhoea after the meal and suffered with it for a week. She went to a local hospital and complained of "gastro". Despite this, medical professionals did not believed her symptoms were as bad as what her four guests experienced. The court heard from nurse Cindy Munro who said Patterson "didn't look unwell" when compared to the guests. Doctor Varuna Ruggoo said tests for her liver function came back with normal results. Why did she throw the dehydrator away? The day after Patterson left hospital she went to a rubbish tip and was seen on CCTV throwing the Sunbeam dehydrator out. When asked about the device she claimed she tried to get rid of the dehydrator because she "panicked" after a conversation with her ex-husband a few days earlier. She claimed he asked her: "Is that what you used to poison my parents?" She said: "I was scared of the conversation that might flow about the meal and the dehydrator and I was scared that they [child protection] would blame me for it." Despite this, the ex-husband claimed he did not remember saying that to her. Why did she lie about having cancer? Patterson invited her in-laws for the meal on a false pretence of receiving a cancer diagnosis, as prosecutors said it was highly unusual for Patterson to hold social gatherings. She had told Gail a few weeks earlier that she found a lump on her elbow. At the dinner she suggested she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The mother of two later admitted she never had cancer, but had been worried enough by symptoms to seek tests. She then said she had been dealing with "self-esteem" issues and was embarrassed to tell her family that. How will the jury decide this case? Patterson has held that the other parties in this case, like her ex-husband, medical professionals and Facebook friends, have been wrong in their accounts. Her eight-day cross-examination has come to an end and she still pleads not guilty. Now the case is in the hands of the jury who will return their verdict.