Wales' most-read stories of 2008

Catherine and Ben Mullany were shot on honeymoon in the Caribbean

By its nature, what makes the news is often bad or sad, and the highest hitting stories of 2008 in Wales certainly contain their fair share of human tragedy.

However, readers appreciate the lighter side of life too, as tales of language misunderstandings and over-packed cars in our annual top 10 round-up show.

1) Doctor dies in honeymoon shooting

The shooting of Catherine and Ben Mullany on what should have been an idyllic honeymoon on a Caribbean island retreat shocked people around the world.

Mrs Mullany, a doctor from Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley, was murdered on the last day of her honeymoon in July.

The tragedy was compounded when her new husband Ben, also shot by intruders at their seaside cabin, died a week later from his injuries.

The couple were buried in a private service with only immediate family present, but at a public funeral service held in Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff in August, more than 900 people came to pay their respects to the popular pair.

2) E-mail error ends up on road sign

The road sign's Welsh is the response from an e-mail 'bounce back'

While tragic stories attract much attention, there is room for humour on the website, and readers found plenty to laugh at in the second most popular story of the year, published in October.

A request by e-mail for a Welsh translation to Swansea council led to a most unusual road sign being produced.

It said in Welsh: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated" rather than "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only."

The sign-makers had failed to spot that the Welsh was actually written on an automated out-of-office reply.

3) Three Welsh politicians 'raped'

A survey in July by a member of the Welsh assembly of her fellow politicians timed to coincide with a report into violence against women revealed that three AMs had been victims of rape and another had suffered domestic abuse.

Nerys Evans AM said the persons involved had been willing to disclose the information on condition of anonymity, adding the news showed how prevalent violence against women was.

4) Man guilty of having 13 in Volvo

In a variation on the "how many people can you squeeze into a Mini?" game, one driver took it a little too far when he was spotted driving with 13 people in his car.

The Volvo car was only designed to carry five people, and not one of the 12 passengers, who included nine children, were wearing seatbelts or sitting in car seats.

Abraham Gniwosch, from Tottenham, north London, was stopped by police as he drove into farm park in Llandudno in August 2007. The following June he was fined and banned from driving for one year.

5) Kayakers' 300ft dam drop attacked

Amateur footage of the kayakers

A group of daredevil kayakers attracted the wrong sort of attention when they posted a video of themselves on YouTube kayaking down a 300ft dam in November.

Welsh Water, which manages Llyn Brianne reservoir in Carmarthenshire, said activities of that sort were strictly prohibited, while kayaking organisations said people needed to take into account the safety and legality of any activity they undertook.

6) Boy dies as sand tunnel collapses

Another holiday turned to tragedy when 16-year-old Craig Owen, 16, from Brymbo, Wrexham, died in August after a sand tunnel he had been involved in digging on Cefn Sidan beach in Carmarthenshire collapsed on top of him.

Craig Owen had been on holiday with family and friends

The teenager, described as an "outstanding young man" had been expected to achieve top grades in his GCSE results which were due out a few weeks after his death.

7) Mother 'flushed baby by accident'

An inquest held in November heard a mother claim she did not know she had given birth until she saw her baby's foot in the bowl of the toilet after flushing it.

Clare Jones, 32, from Pontnewydd, Cwmbran, said she "panicked" when she realised he was dead and hid her baby son's body in the boot of her car where it remained for 10 days until police found it.

She had previously been convicted of concealing the birth of a baby.

8) Soldier is refused room at hotel

Corporol Tomos Stringer, 23, from Gwynedd had to spend the night in his car after a hotel in Woking told him they did not accept military personnel.

Cpl Stringer was home on leave after being injured in Afghanistan and had been visiting a fellow injured solider in the town in June when the incident happened.

The Metro Hotel later apologised, saying it had been a "mistake".

9) Man choked in cake-eating contest

Adam Deeley was hoping to emigrate to New Zealand

An impromptu party game had fatal consequences for 34-year-old Adam Deeley from Birmingham after he choked to death attempting to eat five fairy cakes at the opening night of a photography exhibition in Swansea.

His inquest in November heard the mature student collapsed at the Monkey Bar in February and could not be revived.

10) Stab death of porn charge ex-Pc

A former police constable was stabbed to death at Trimsaran in Carmarthenshire in June while waiting to be tried for child porn charges.

Geoffrey Harries, 49, had been charged with downloading 2,082 indecent images. Daniel Marcel Williams, 30, of Dythel Park, Trimsaran, has been charged with his murder.