They make 'em clever in Canada

An Edmonton man has been banned from handling power tools after he used a power drill fitted with a Barbie brush to style his girlfriend's hair.

The woman woke up screaming and bleeding when the tool tore out a clump of her hair, court heard Wednesday.

''I'm very sorry,'' Shee Chung Theng, 30, told provincial court Judge Shelagh Creagh. He added it was a ''ridiculous'' idea.

Theng and his girlfriend, Janine Rose, had been out at a bar before returning to his parents' southside home on Dec. 29, 2004.

Theng testified at his trial that Rose asked him to give her a massage and comb her hair.

He said he left Rose in his bedroom to get some food. When he stopped to watch TV, he saw an infomercial for a hair styling device that gave him the idea to use the drill.

But Crown prosecutor Christian Lim, who argued Theng should go to jail, said Theng then attacked the girl in bed.

Creagh, who found Theng guilty of assault, noted he is a first-time offender and handed him a nine-month conditional sentence to be served in the community.