Fire extinguisher resolves German smoking dispute

Anti-smoker powder coats puffing girlfriend

By Lester Haines • Get more from this author

Posted in Bootnotes, 19th February 2008 15:48 GMT

Increase your knowledge of the latest threats to your busines

An anti-smoking German man earned himself a light cuffing last Sunday after his girlfriend declined a request to stop smoking in his flat, and he responded by emptying a fire extinguisher over her and the Bielefeld domicile.

According to Spiegel, the 42-year-old reacted angrily to his missus lighting up, gave her a bit of a mouthful and then, "not completely satisfied with his tirade... grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed the entire apartment with the fine, white powder inside".

Bielefeld police spokesman Michael Waldhecker said: "He just sprayed it all over the flat. With that kind of a fire extinguisher, it looks like it just snowed in the apartment. It's hellish to clean up."

The girlfriend duly called cops, who took the man to the station to allow him to calm down. Waldhecker added: "We didn't want the situation to escalate."

The militant opponent of gaspers is unlikely to face charges, Waldhecker concluded, since it was "his apartment and his fire extinguisher" and his girlfriend was unharmed in the attack.

The current status of the relationship is unrecorded, although the perp admitted to police he doubted it could survive if his powder-coated other half didn't ditch the 'baccy - which seems clear enough. ®

Tune into our application security webcast, click here