News Makers: Captive tormented with buffoon Bean

When the Iranians wanted to ridicule a British sailor, they knew just who to compare him with: the clumsy, gurning, undeniably British Mr Bean.

The young sailor was subjected to an ordeal he described as "beyond terrifying".

Singled out by his captors in the mistaken belief he was the navigator of the British vessel that had supposedly strayed into Iranian waters, Arthur Batchelor was blindfolded, tied with plastic handcuffs and kept in solitary confinement for days. But what really seemed to enrage the 20-year-old Royal Navy operator maintainer was his interrogation. "All I could make out in their language were the words 'Mr Bean'. They were laughing at me... making me feel about three inches tall," he told reporters.