Quirky World: The power of conviction goes beyond the grave

GREECE: A Greek court has convicted a dead man of stealing electricity from a power company, giving him a six-month suspended jail sentence. 

Defence lawyer Christos Bakelas told the Thessaloniki court that his client was deceased, and asked to have the trial deferred until he could deliver a death certificate. However, the court refused and convicted his client in absentia.

Thessaloniki police records show the 46-year-old unemployed father of three died on April 8, but Bakelas was not informed until the eve of the trial.