A Northern Irishman has been jailed for trying to turn his own faeces into gold, in a new twist on alchemy.
Paul Moran, 30, was imprisoned for three months after putting his own faeces on an electric heater.
He caused an estimated £3,000 worth of damage to his Housing Executive home and admitted arson and endangering the lives of others in courts.
Des Fahy, acting for Moran said despite his clients bizarre actions he had "considerable intellectual ability", reports the Belfast Telegraph.
Moran was told by Judge McFarland his experiment "was never going to succeed".
“Rather bizarrely you were attempting to make gold from human faeces and waste products.
“It was an interesting experiment to fulfil the alchemist’s dream, but wasn’t going to succeed.”