A Twitter feed caught my eye yesterday:

“Bad weather now blamed for rise in domestic violence”.

The source was a respectable one, Family Law News, an offshoot of the excellent Family Lore Focus website.  I wondered what the ultimate source of the news was – I guessed a research project by a university social sciences department somewhere in the country.

The link in the Twitter feed took me to an article on the Telegraph website.  The article begins:
Officers in Devon and Cornwall said bad weather leads to partners with stranded indoors too much and the resulting “cabin fever” increases the chances of violent outbursts.

Resisting the temptation to quibble over the sloppy grammar I read on, and soon discovered the ultimate source of the news:

The comments came from Sergeant Andy Turner in a meeting with Sidmouth Town Council, which has also seen two new housing developments in its area.

No disrespect to Sgt Turner, who is entitled to his views, nor to Sidmouth Town Council as an important part of local democracy, but isn’t it a little odd that a casual speculation like Sgt Turner’s should end up on my screen appearing for all the world to be a statement of fact?

Anybody got any similar examples?