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Michael Jackson's Blood Trace Up for Auction

Michael Jackson. Reuters
Michael Jackson. Reuters
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Michael Jackson's Blood Trace Up for Auction

Michael Jackson. Reuters
Michael Jackson. Reuters

Blood-stained IV drip from Michael Jackson's death bed, which may have administered his final fatal dose of drug propofol - is going on sale.

A Las Vegas memorabilia expert hopes to get at least $2,500 for the fluid bag, which was used by MJ and administered by Doctor Conrad Murray in June 2009.

The disturbing item comes from Jackson's cousin Marsha Stewart - and is up for sale as part of an auction of materials from the estate of the star's father, Joe Jackson.

Marsha admits that she took the bag from the King of Pop's bedroom days after his death during a visit with dad Joe. She said the drip had white milk fluid inside that later dissolved.

Marsha claims that the IV is the last one he had in his arm when he died, although it is understood that Los Angeles Police Department detectives removed medical equipment from the crime scene hours after MJ passed away on June 25 2009.

Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter after it was found he gave the star excessive amount of drugs including the surgical anesthetic propofol.

"Shortly after Michael died I went to the house on sunset. I was able to go in and go to the bedroom. When I went in the bedroom there was a bed there with some juice, it looked like a sandwich... and I noticed this. This was over by the stand and what I did was took it and put it in my purse," Marsha said in a video to publicize the sale on YouTube.

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UK's Sunniest Spring Yields Unusually Sweet Strawberries

(FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)
(FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)
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UK's Sunniest Spring Yields Unusually Sweet Strawberries

(FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)
(FILES) A seasonal worker picks strawberries at Hugh Lowe Farms, near Maidstone, Kent on June 21, 2021. (Photo by BEN STANSALL / AFP)

British strawberry farmers say this year's record-breaking spring sunshine and warm days have yielded the cream of the crop, with a bigger and sweeter harvest than usual.

Long periods of sun and cool nights provided "perfect" conditions for the strawberry harvest, according to James Miller from WB Chambers Farms.

The dry and pleasant weather also boosted insect pollination, which further improves the quality and shape of the berries, Miller explained, according to AFP.

"They're bigger and sweeter this year than we've seen in previous years," said Miller, the commercial director for one of the country's biggest berry producers.

At one farm near Dartford in Kent, southeast England, rows of strawberry plants drooped with the weight of the gleaming red fruit housed in insulating polytunnels.

As farmhands made their way meticulously down the semi-circular white tunnels, punnets were filled with ripe strawberries -- some the size of small fists.

The weather has resulted in "super berry size and super flavor," said Nick Marston, chairman of British Berry Growers, which represents most of the UK's soft fruit farms.

"I've been in the berry industry for 30 years and this is one of the best springs I've ever seen, in terms of both the weather and also the crop," Marston told AFP.

This year Britain experienced the warmest spring in terms of mean temperatures since records began in 1884, the Met Office announced this week.

It was also the second-sunniest and the driest spring in over a century for England, known for its damp climate.

Southeast England received only 30-50 percent of its average spring rainfall, according to the Met Office, raising fears of drought for many farmers.

Human-induced climate change is driving longer-lasting, more intense and more frequent droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather events.

To conserve water, the WB Chambers farm in Dartford uses drip irrigation -- which involves water slowly trickling to the roots of the plant through a controlled pipe.

"We've reduced our water usage for growing strawberries quite significantly," Miller told AFP. "So I hope we're in a better place than others."

According to Marston, British producers have already sold nearly 21,600 tons of strawberries -- 5,000 tons more than by the same time last year, when the country experienced an overcast spring.

This is in part due to warmer conditions yielding an earlier crop than usual, with large and juicy strawberries hitting the shelves in April, rather than May.

But it is also due to a rise in demand when the sun comes out, said Miller, with consumers hankering for British summer classics like strawberries and cream.

"The sun is our biggest salesman in the UK," said Miller. "When the sun picks up, then the demand picks up."