Does anyone remember an eccentric in the sheffield area who used to sit in club with an imaginary dog and occasionally bark.
anyone else remeber any other interesting eccentrics with dogs, oh yes   grisweld the super dog here A ventriloquist says he was quizzed by police for more than an hour after a woman claimed his PUPPET made lewd comments to her in the street.

David Sampson, 67, says a woman reported him after his dummy - Grisweld The Super Dog - hid down his trousers and was heard asking her to "have a feel".

He is alleged to have made the comments while he handed out leaflets for a Red Nose Day event outside the Bulls Head pub in Rugby, Warks., on February 14.

The former musician and comedian, who has not been charged, denies that the comments were made - because Grisweld "doesn't talk".

The dad-of-three was stunned when he received a letter on April 29 outlining the allegations and inviting him for a police interview.

Mr Sampson, who has been a ventriloquist for five years, claims he was interviewed for more than an hour at Rugby Police station in Warwickshire on May 3.

Mr Sampson, of Brinklow, near Rugby, Warks., said: "Grisweld and I were distributing leaflets at the time, and I was making jokes to passersby to raise interest in our event.

"The woman claimed that Grisweld gave her a lot of sexual abuse, and then hid in my trousers and said 'why don't you come and have a feel of this, missus?'

"But he would never do that, and I certainly wouldn't either.

"Grisweld doesn't talk, he never has done and never will do.

"And even if he did, he's a polite character anyway.

"Whenever he's appeared he's always under the vet, he's lost his bark, he doesn't speak.

"He's like Sooty. My dummy can't speak.

"It's impossible for him to fit in my trousers, especially as I was wearing a coat at the time.

"The woman even described him as an emu in her statement, which shows how little she knows about it."

Mr Sampson says he was initially questioned by police days after the woman reported him for sexual abuse.

He added: "Two police officers came to see me on a Saturday morning and took my statement about the meeting in the street.

"Then I had an email saying they would like me to come to the station and make a recorded interview.

"I said I didn't want to do that, then a PC came round the following day and said that if I didn't do a recorded interview voluntarily I would have to be arrested and taken down to the police station.

"I didn't make any offensive comments, and neither did Grisweld.

"At the station, I just said I hadn't done anything. I thought 'I'm not going to take Grisweld with me'.

"I had already spoken to the PC and pointed out that Grisweld could not physically get into my trousers.

"I have not been arrested, I have not been charged and I have not been put on police bail either.

"I think, in an age when you have robberies and break-ins that the police are not bothering to investigate, it's absolutely ridiculous to go to all the trouble of taking any action whatsoever.

"Had this happened, I would have expected it to have been reported back in February. It seems like the obvious time to report Grisweld.

"I will do whatever I can to fight for justice. We were trying to do something good for charity, so for it to end up like this is just awful.

"Grisweld is definitely innocent, okay.

"He did raise nearly £300 for Comic Relief, but I would imagine the cost to the taxpayer of that interview the other week - employing two officers to listen to it for an hour and a solicitor - would have probably cost more than we raised for Red Nose Day.

"It's a disgrace."