And Finally

Six prisoners escaped a US jail on Christmas morning by removing a toilet and crawling through a hole behind it. The Christmas escape from the Cocke County Jail Annex in Newport, Tennessee was short-lived as the sixth inmate was recaptured on 28 December.

Over the past year, our And finally section - with the most absurd, offbeat, strange or funny legal stories - has kept lawyers entertained. Here, we list our 10 most popular stories of 2016:

Dogs should not be treated like children, an incensed judge ruled as he threw out a divorcing couple's bid for joint custody of two dogs. Justice Richard Danyliuk, sitting in the Provincial Court in Saskatoon, was forced to tell the pair that a dog "enjoys no familial rights" and that, unlike dogs,

Swedish furniture giant Ikea has issued a plea to teenagers to stop sneaking into its stores for unauthorised sleepovers.

Madonna has been told she will be given no special treatment in a legal battle over her $7.3 million apartment in New York City. The singer is suing the owner over a change in the terms of her lease, in particular a rule preventing her children or staff being at the property while she is absent.

Police officers broke a car window to save a woman they thought was dying – only to find it was a mannequin. Cops in Hudson, New York, received a call that an elderly woman had “frozen to death” in a parked car, The Times Union of Albany reports.

A police officer has been accused of pulling women over at traffic stops – to ask them out on dates. New Jersey man Marquice Prather, 37, was arrested last week on charges of third-degree tampering of public records as well as fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.

A woman challenged to produce a “not meagre amount” of “multiple knitted items” after she claimed she was merely en route to a wool shop when she tailed and assaulted a fellow motorist has produced the goods. Dundee Sheriff Court heard in July that Amanda McCabe, 47, tailed her victim, Clair

A pair of drunks allegedly preparing to rob a restaurant were caught after they accidentally dialled 911 while discussing their plans outside. Worse yet, police chief Tony Gray was eating his dinner inside.

Source: Al.com via YouTube A tense confrontation between cops and bikers in Alabama was quickly defused - when it was revealed to be a staged marriage proposal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBO2SWyWjl0 Prisoners at a San Diego jail are facing a major crackdown after they managed to take part in the viral Internet "Mannequin Challenge" phenomenon, despite a ban on mobile phones in prison.

https://youtu.be/0n01Q_GYsEU A celebrity lawyer made Internet famous by his absurdly over-the-top TV advert has struck again with a holiday-themed version.

Actress and model Sofia Vergara is being sued by her own eggs in the latest bizarre stage of her court battle with ex-fiancé Nick Loeb. A right-to-live lawsuit has been filed in a district court in Jefferson Parish in Louisiana on behalf of the fertilised eggs against their mother. The papers claim

A suspected serial hair thief has been arrested after he was accused of cutting a woman’s hair on a rush hour train – to sell online. Police in Japan have charged 23-year-old student Akiya Yoshida with assault after he admitted snipping the locks of a woman on a rush-hour train in Nagoya, west o

A 20-year-old woman who left negative online reviews about a law firm has successfully fended off a lawsuit from the embittered solicitors. Lan Cai slammed the Tuan A. Khuu law firm on Facebook and Yelp, saying that the firm ignored her contacts and once "came to my house and into my room to talk to