This story [2] is a classic. Thank you, Greenville News [3]. A local Greenville councilman, Tony Trout (TONY TROUT!), is done for spying and wiretapping. He gets sent to Beckley, a West Virginian prison camp (headline: Disciplined prison life awaits Tony Trout [2]). And then you get this:

A man identifying himself as a former camp inmate in a popular online prison forum said one of the best parts about Beckley is the wildlife: hand-fed raccoons and skunks, even a deer named "Buttons" that would stick its nose in inmates' pockets for candy.

And suddenly we're in a Disney film or Dr Doolittle, but with a criminal edge. Buttons?!

The Greenville News blogosphere don't seem to think much of the whole set-up either. One commenter compares it to "Camp Old Indian", a holiday camp, which prompts an outpouring of nostalgia. "Rusty Nail", says he, "went there for several Summers when I was a 'YOOT' growing up in Greenville." Another says he still drives up there to reminisce about "how simple and good life seemed to be way back then".

It's all too much. But somehow I think old wiretapping Tony Trout could probably do a lot worse for his moral fibre than spend a few months feeding sweets to Buttons. Makes me think our criminal justice system should start seriously considering the introduction of tame deer and raccoons. Into the manifesto, I hear you cry.