Philip Harper (courtesy newser.com)

Mr. Harper [above] will not be available to receive his TTAG IGOTD award. Neither will his BFF. “Ian Catley, 40, has received a seven-year sentence for manslaughter after admitting that he shot 46-year-old Philip Harper in the chest with a shotgun when his friend asked him to test what he thought was a bulletproof vest,” newser.com reports. “Police say that instead of protecting Harper, the plastic-lined vest funneled the shotgun spray into the center of his chest, killing him almost instantly. Catley’s lawyer says that the day before the shooting, Harper had gone to the pub . . .

wearing his new vest and a SWAT cap and asked around to see if anybody was willing to help him test it.

Hint: never ask for volunteers for anything at an English pub; even a formaldehyde egg eating challenge could prove fatal. And don’t ask to be shot – unless you want to buy the farm. That’s just plain irresponsible. [ht SS]

12 COMMENTS

  1. If one is going to test a vest, put is on a block of foam or a BOB dummy, not yourself, DUMMY.
    Darwin award nominee fo sho.

  2. Holy smokes! Gonna take me a while to wrap my head around the fact that there are people out there that are THAT stupid and allowed to drive cars, breed and vote.

  3. I don’t even know where to start. Fake vest, lols.

    But that story links to multiple other stories with the same result… it just hurts the head.

  4. Stupidity is not that rare. Nor is the expression “curiosity killed the cat” obsolete. I used to handload 32 special handgun empties with new primers and press them into wax blocks used for canning. It was great to practice with and the wax bullets penetrated cardboard boxes. I asked a friend to shoot me from about 50 feet to see if he could hit me. He did, and it hurt. A lot. The second of really stupid things. That was 55 years ago. The third time is hopefully still in the future.

  5. 7 years was a bit harsh. He was only helping a friend. A seven year suspended sentence would be fairer, so they could throw him in the slammer if he pulled a stupid stunt like this again.

Comments are closed.