Trenton Oldfield, the 35 year-old Australian who dramatically halted the University Boat Race earlier in April by swimming into the path of the Oxford and Cambridge crews, was charged with causing a public nuisance on Monday.

Oldfield swapped his wetsuit for more formal attire when he appeared in front of the Feltham Court magistrates.

Mr Oldfield entered no plea and was granted bail with a series of strict conditions.

The activist is forbidden from entering the City of Westminster on May 9 for the state opening of parliament and entering the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead prior to his next court appearance on May 28.

A number of events planned to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee will take place in the borough during this time.

A further bail condition bans Mr Oldfield from using or being within a hundred metres of roads which form part of the Olympic torch route.

The conditions were put in place after prosecutors referred to the “manifesto” which Mr Oldfield allegedly posted on line before disrupting the race.

The post entitled “Elitism leads to tyranny,” describes his actions as “an act of civil disobedience,” and encourages others to do the same. His suggestions include asking security guards to set off fire alarms during important meetings, and asking pest controllers to “fail at destroying pests” of elitist households.

On the same post, Mr Oldfield lays out his strategy of peaceful protest against “elitists and those with elitist sympathies” which involves using “guerrilla tactics” like “local knowledge, ambush, surprise, mobility and speed.”

Ben Myers, a former University Boat Club president criticized the protestor’s actions, “it was totally the wrong stage for Trenton Oldfield to voice his opinions,” he said.

He described the Boat Race as a “very meritocratic event” in which competitors “work extremely hard to be part of the respective crews.”

Ed Eliot, a first-year from Exeter College described the protest as “really stupid,” but said that he could “understand the reasons behind it.”

Writer and director Armando Iannucci has raised over £4,700 for a specialist pregnancy care unit at John Radcliffe Hospital in Headington – by leaping off the top of it.

Mr Iannucci was one of 90 people taking part in the charity abseil on Sunday at John Radcliffe Women’s Centre, which raised a total of around £30,000 for five different causes within the Hospital.

Best known for his creation of BAFTA Award-winning political sitcom The Thick of It, Iannucci, an English alumnus of University College, Oxford, is a patron of the Hospital’s Silver Star Baby Unit, where all three of his children were born.

On his JustGiving page, Mr Iannucci explains why he was taking part. “I’m no John Bishop, can’t run for toffee, am a rubbish swimmer and find cycling a bit sweaty.

“I am however prepared to use the power of gravity to drop to the ground from a high building to raise money… I’ve seen first hand the amazing work [the Silver Star Unit] does saving the lives of mums and babies every day.”

The Silver Star Baby Unit was set up in 1971 to provide intensive care for women with pregnancy complications – the world’s first specialist maternity centre. It has delivered around 20,000 babies since then, and also leads research into treating serious prenatal conditions, notably pre-eclampsia – the development of often life-threatening hypertension during pregnancy.

“Nationally, we are a unique unit,” Silver Star Society Secretary Maggie Findlay told Cherwell, “Women in Oxfordshire are, of course, our priority, but we receive referrals from all over the country.

“People don’t realise that, even nowadays, not everyone can have an easy pregnancy. There are about 6,500 births at the John Radcliffe each year, and over 400 of those come through us.”

Iannucci was characteristically wry about his descent. “I’m told I just need to stand at the edge of the building and lean back. That sounds stupid”, he quipped to well-wishers on Twitter.

“If I abseil past someone as they give birth, the whole exercise may prove counter-productive though!”

Mr Iannucci was instrumental in generating support for the Unit when it was threatened with closure over two years ago. “For small charities like us, patrons like Armando are invaluable. He raises our profile considerably,” stressed Ms Findlay, “He is very supportive, and always comes to events if he’s around.’

The John Radcliffe Hospital voiced encouragement for charitable undertakings, “Fundraising across all our hospitals is hugely important and pays for a vast array of additional medical equipment and patient facilities for patients. We have another abseil in June which is particularly focussed on cancer fundraising.”

Iannucci addressed followers after the event, saying, “Big thanks to everyone from Mr Shakeylegs… Came home and celebrated a successful abseil with a glass of wine and 5 minutes in the garden clearing dog poo.”

The comedy writer has no shortage of fans within the Oxford student population. St Anne’s finalist and political enthusiast Robin McGhee said, “Besides his day job as a genius Armando Iannucci spends his time being a really lovely man.

“He has always been a brilliant supporter of Oxford charities. I’m sure I join everyone in wishing him well and expressing relief that he didn’t fall off.”

Candidates for wards representing Oxford University students have clashed over key issues ahead of city council elections on May 3.

The hustings at Oriel College on Wednesday evening saw prospective councillors for the Carfax, Holywell and North Wards pitch themselves to an audience of students and local residents, facing a multitude of questions on topics ranging from education to wheelchair accessibility in the city centre.

The twelve candidates include three current Oxford finalists, Alex Harvey, Sam Hollick, and Robin McGhee. There were also two University members of staff: Anne-Marie Canning and John Howson.

Classic battlegrounds of housing and bicycle theft were hotly debated. Accusations were levelled at Labour and the Greens by the Liberal Democrats, with their candidate for Holywell, Robin McGhee, bemoaning a stifling of housing availability. He said that the two parties “just don’t get the point” about the use of caps.

However, Adam Ramsay, Green candidate for Carfax, later released a statement denying that he supported housing quotas.

The Conservatives currently have no councillors in Oxford and are expected to suffer from the factor of incumbency on a national level.

Tim Patmore, Conservative candidate for Carfax, comparing Oxford to other local authorities with “less council tax and regulations”, said that he “would like to transform Oxford into a town more like Banbury”.

His fellow party candidate for Holywell, Robert Sargent, said, “Bringing in a couple of Tory councillors will bring some sanity to the city.”

The Green Party is looking to boost their presence in Oxford, one of places in the country where they are best represented. Amongst other proposals they pledged “sensible measures” to bring back the recently scrapped Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA).

When asked to explain how he would fund the EMA, Ramsay vowed to tax four- and five-star hotels, bluntly declaring, “We want to take it off rich people.” He believes that government policy has led to pupils being unable to finish school, and remarked, “In the city famous for education, I think it’s a disgrace.’

Robin McGhee, however, pointed out, “City councils don’t actually have the powers to do that.”

Ramsay’s Labour rival Anne-Marie Canning, defending the council’s record, maintained that “the Labour vote’s the only vote for a student”.

National politics inevitably also framed the debate. Adam Ramsay claimed, “We’re seeing inequality widen across the country at the fastest rate we’ve seen since Victorian Britain.”

Labour Party candidate for Holywell, Alex Harvey, took a swipe at the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government: “They can’t play politics with people’s lives in the name of deficit reduction.”

“This is a government that is both economically incompetent and morally incompetent.”

Robin McGhee was defiant in the face of perceived popular disaffection with the Lib Dems. “I haven’t been amazingly pleased with everything we’ve done in government, but I’ve been proud by the way we’ve prevented the Tories from doing some very bad things indeed.”

Previously a minority administration, Oxford City Council became a majority Labour council after the last local elections in 2010. Labour currently hold 26 out of 48 seats, whilst the Lib Dems hold 16 seats and the Greens hold 5. 

Polling will take place between 7am – 10pm next Thursday.

The full list of candidates is as follows:

Carfax: Anne-Marie Canning, LAB; Tim Patmore, CON; Adam Ramsay, GRN; Duncan Stott, LD. Colleges: Balliol, Blackfriars, Brasenose, Exeter, Jesus, Keble, Lincoln, Pembroke, Regent’s Park, St John’s, St Peter’s, Nuffield, St Benet’s, St Cross, Trinity

Holywell: Alex Harvey, LAB; Sam Hollick, GRN; Robin McGhee, LD; Robert Sargent, CON. Colleges: All Souls, Christ Church, Corpus, Harris Manchester, Hertford, Linacre, Magdalen, Mansfield, Merton, New, Oriel, Queen’s, St Catz, Teddy Hall, University, Wadham

North: Sushila Dhall, GRN; James Fry, LAB; John Howson, LD; Samantha Mandrup, CON. Colleges: Green Templeton, Kellogg, LMH, Somerville, St Anne’s, St Antony’s

Colleges in other wards – St Margaret’s: St Hugh’s, Wolfson; St Mary’s: St Hilda’s; Jericho and Osney: Worcester

A disabled second year student at Keble College has gone viral on YouTube with 150,000 hits and counting for his drum cover of “Hot Right Now” by DJ Fresh.

Cornel Hrisca-Munn, a student of Philosophy and Theology, was born with a twisted right leg and without any lower arms. In spite of such disabilities, he recorded and posted thirteen videos of his drumming during the Easter vacation, several of which have received well over 100,000 views.

Asked about the reasons behind his snowballing success, Hrisca-Munn answered “I guess there aren’t that many disabled drummers on YouTube.”

Hrisca-Munn is no stranger to media attention, and his entrance to Oxford was documented by the Daily Mail in an article which championed his strength in overcoming his “bleak” upbringing. He was abandoned in an orphanage by his parents at the age of seven months. Two aid workers brought him back to England for treatment, including amputation, and subsequently adopted him.

Hrisca-Munn told Cherwell that he became passionate about playing the drums in high school, explaining, “Initially it was an instrument I thought I could manage, that I could start learning. Then I really took to it and just carried on. I did not think I would get this far!”

When asked for the reasons behind his turning to YouTube, he explained, “I’ve always wanted to do some drum covers, some songs are just begging for drums. Initially I started [recording videos of his drumming] out of boredom. I thought I would do it as I had so much time on my hands

“I just wanted to do it for fun,” he continued, “I saw other people posting covers on YouTube and thought I would give it a go.”

Hrisca-Munn recorded all thirteen tracks in a single day during the vacation, including a cover of “Call me maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, which has received over 120,000 views, and “The Adventures of Raindance Maggie” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

He describes his technique as improvisation, explaining, “I sort of make it up as I go along.”

When asked how far he wished to pursue his passion, Hrisca-Munn answered, “I’m not sure really. It was so causal to start with and it went a lot further than I could ever have imagined.”

He thinks a lot of the interest has been fuelled by “curiosity,” though added, “Some of it might be pity, which is a shame.”

The YouTube videos have gathered momentum over the past few days following coverage by CBS News and the Huffington Post. Hrisca-Munn explained, “I came back from a tute this week and I had received 500 email notifications from Youtube comments.”

Hrisca-Munn has also been asked for an interview by one of the chief editors of MTV this Sunday. “It will be amazing,” he says, “this should really push things further.” He has also been invited to play at several festivals in the Netherlands in June.

Response to the videos has been unanimously positive, with one commenter posting on the Huffington Post article, “This is a demonstration of the human spirit and its ability to endure. Difficult to compare to so many who have much to be thankful for but do nothing but complain out of an undeserved feeling of entitlement.”

Encouraging home births could save the NHS millions of pounds a year, an Oxford University study has shown.

The findings, published in the British Medical Journal, studied 60,000 women over two years, all of whom were deemed to have “low risk” pregnancies.  Participants in the study included both women who had given birth before and those who had not, and researchers showed that on average it was £300 cheaper for a woman to give birth at her own home than in a hospital.

The research took into account NHS costs linked to the actual birth, including the cost of midwife care whilst labour is occurring and after birth, medical care, pain relief and procedures required in hospital should anything go wrong. It did not, however, take into account the cost of caring for a baby suffering from birth injuries, a major factor in determining childbirth costs as babies born at home were found to be three times more likely to suffer from such injuries.

Currently only 2.5% of women give birth at home, but Liz Schroder, a co-author of the study, hopes that the findings may encourage them “to request an ‘out of hospital’ birth” and that “the potential for cost savings could make offering women more choice an attractive option for the NHS”.

Others believe that this research will be a wake-up the government, at a time when NHS cuts are being fiercely debated. Louise Silverton, deputy general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives said, “This underlines the need to make a fundamental change in the way we deliver maternity services in this country.” She added that the government is asking for “more for less” and that the research is a “shining example” of how it can be delivered.

However, the findings have failed to convince everybody. Camilla Tomney, writing in The Express, claimed that the study is a classic example of women being made to feel inadequate when they wish to “defy Mother Nature”, even if they “are doing what they believe is best for their babies”.

Students at Oxford have also questioned the findings. One first year medic commented, “Home births are always dangerous.” Another stated that the NHS is not about simply “saving money, but saving lives.”