Designer chic: Superdry’s co-founder Julian Dunkerton with his wife Jade Holland Cooper

Superdry co-founder Julian Dunkerton saw his stake in the business plunge by £7 million in three months – much more money than he ever earned in pay and bonuses as the company’s chief executive.

Dunkerton, 58, owns more than a quarter of the Japan-inspired retailer, which was one of the biggest names on the high street not so long ago.

At its height the company was valued at £1.6 billion and its jackets were flaunted by footballer David Beckham and actor Idris Elba.

But Superdry has been struggling in recent years and the once-mighty firm is now worth just £55 million.

In delayed results released on Friday, Dunkerton admitted it had been another ‘difficult’ 12 months for the business. The company plunged to a loss of £148 million and saw its debt spiral.

Superdry has been plagued by rumours that it might go private and that its future is in question.

When Dunkerton last bought stock in the company at the end of May, his stake in the group was worth around £21.5 million. At that time the company’s share sale raised £11 million to bolster its balance sheet.

But shares have tumbled over the summer, wiping £7 million from his holding by the time its stock was temporarily suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange at the request of the company.

This drop is more than the £4.7 million he earned over the 11 years that he was chief executive at Superdry, which he co-founded in 2003 with James Holder.

Dunkerton, who married designer Jade Holland Cooper in 2018, led Superdry through its London Stock Exchange listing in 2010 and was chief executive until 2015.

He stayed on the board before leaving the firm in 2018 – only to return a year later when he engineered a board clearout and comeback as chief executive after being dismayed about its performance.

Dunkerton pledged to spend his second stint as chief executive shaking up Superdry’s design strategy by focusing more on the hoodies and jackets that made the company famous.

A source close to the business said: ‘Julian believes passionately in the brand which is why he underwrote the equity raise and has continued to buy shares in the company.

‘Clearly it has been a very challenging time, but the balance sheet issues have now been addressed and Julian is incredibly positive about the new product that’s coming through.’

A pensioner turned his neighbour into a human fireball with a home-made flame thrower and then shot a woman through the neck with a speargun in an argument over an allotment.

Footage from Russia captured the moment in which a man is engulfed in flames as he tries to calm the pensioner down during an argument over whether he was stealing electricity from his neighbour.

As the younger man approaches him to defuse the situation, he attempts to take what appears to be a fire extinguisher out of his neighbour’s hands.

However, to his surprise, it is in fact a home-made flamethrower which transforms the man into a walking fireball. 

An elderly woman standing next to him narrowly avoids the same fate as an open door acts as a barrier and blocks the flames from engulfing her while she films the altercation.

As the man staggers backwards and tries to put out the blaze, others crowd around him trying to help.

This is the horrifying moment a pensioner turns their neighbour into a human fireball with a home-made flame thrower

The younger man appears to try and take the flamethrower off the pensioner (left) but is set on fire and left with horrifying burns (right)

The terrifying incident is understood to have taken place in Trudovoye, a village in the Primorsky Krai region the Russian Far East, near Vladivostok. 

Shockingly, the dispute does not end there. A second video shows a woman – the head of the local allotment society named only as Nina – with an arrow sticking out of her neck.

The arrow – reportedly from a speargun – went right through her neck but miraculously did not cause a fatal wound.

As she stands there in complete shock, the man who had been set alight appears to be severely injured with burned skin flaking off his body.

Local media reported that the speargun had been fired by the pensioner while the woman was facing away from him.

A witness told local media: ‘In the confusion, the attacker approached the chairwoman of the gardening allotment association with a speargun from behind and aimed a shot at her back.

A second video showed the head of the local allotment society named only as Nina with an arrow sticking out of her neck. It was reportedly fired from a speargun 

‘When they saw this, they screamed, and her husband, who was standing nearby, tried to save his wife.

‘At that moment, the attacker fired and pierced the woman’s neck with an arrow through and through.’

The pensioner was reportedly wrestled to the ground by onlookers after trying to go back into his home before being handed over to the police.

Paramedics rushed both victims to hospital in an ambulance.

The flamethrower victim is said to have serious burns over 60 per cent of his body and a fundraiser has been launched to help with his treatment costs.

Local media reports that Nina was operated on to remove the arrow and is conscious and talking to the police. She is expected to be discharged from hospital this week.

It’s understood police have opened an attempted murder investigation.

Many of us dream of being an artist at one point in our lives, but dodgy sketching can often stop us from getting there. 

Now, these dreams may soon be possible, as a new tool can transform your bad doodles into masterpieces thanks to the power of artificial intelligence (AI).

Tech giant Qualcomm unveiled its game-changing ControlNet software earlier this week, which turns image prompts into whatever you like within 12 seconds.

Unlike many other models of its kind – such as Adobe AI Firefly – ControlNet surprisingly doesn’t need the internet to function and could soon be a major mobile phone app.

While it has not yet been released, the firm claims that producing images here will be completely private, with no data backed up to a third-party cloud.

Bad sketches can be transformed into masterpieces in just under 12 seconds using ControlNet. In this demonstration, one user has inputted a drawing of a kitten and urged the model to make it ‘yellow’, ‘photo realistic’ and in ‘4k’ quality using a text prompt. The final image is displayed on the right hand side

‘Generative AI has taken the world by storm, disrupting traditional ways of creating content,’ a Qualcomm spokesman said. 

‘ControlNet allows users to input a text description of an image as well as an additional image to control the generative process.’

ControlNet comes amidst numerous similar AI tools of this kind which are most commonly referred to as language-vision models (LVMs).

These generally fuse an image encoder and a text encoder to read instructions provided by a user, before producing new content. 

While ControlNet is not yet available for public use, demonstrations show that it can produce artwork from text prompts, image prompts and both simultaneously.

Chosen images can be anything from personal drawings to photographs, while text inputs can indicate what style or ‘material’ the AI should use to produce a new version.

Water colour or oil paint could be used to generate an image for example, with these then depicted in 4k quality. 

As this process runs solely on a given device, Qualcomm claims that both its runtime and power consumption is also significantly reduced. 

The spokesman added: ‘Images are generated in under 12 seconds to provide an interactive user experience that is reliable and consistent.

‘On-device AI provides benefits in terms of cost, performance, personalisation, privacy and security at a global scale.’

In this ControlNet demonstration, one user has inputted a photograph of themselves, and it appears that the model has been asked to produce an ancient-styled piece of artwork  

It is not clear when ControlNet will be available for public use, but it will be useable on phones as shown in this Qualcomm demonstration. Here, a user has made use of the image prompt and text prompt, asking for a ‘photo realistic’ 4k photo of them

Qualcomm’s new product  follows a backlash against AI-generated image models, with numerous artists voicing their copyright concerns.

This was largely sparked by Disney illustrator, Hollie Mengert, after she found that her work was used without consent to train a new model in Canada.

Many have since debated the ethics of using artwork to train AI, with the legality of doing so also a grey area across the world. 

It is not yet clear whose images have been used to train ControlNet, but MailOnline has approached Qualcomm for further information. 

Smartphone users who opted for a transparent case to show off the tech design may have noticed the clear plastic has turned a dingy yellow.

While the change might be annoying, the truth is that the plastic used to make these covers is actually yellow – but manufacturers add a blue tint that makes them see-through.

The tint wears off exposing the original color when the case is exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light, natural oils, and sweat from the human body.

However, the off-putting tint can be transformed back to the transparent cover – and experts have shared ways to make them look as good as new.

A Reddit user shared this image recently, stating: ‘The fact that this will inevitably happen to any clear phone case.’ But there are cleaning tips to get rid of the off-putting yellow color

Why does a clear smartphone case turn yellow?

Most clear smartphone covers are designed using silicone, acrylic or thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU).

All three are durable and capable of withstanding high temperatures – which can increase with smartphone use.

However, Ecmco Industrial Plastics states that ‘American-made acrylic does yellow in the sunlight.’

Polycarbonate is a type of TPU that is more shatter resistant than acrylic, which is likely the go-to material for manufacturers.

This material, acrylic and silicon all yellow due to an oxidation reaction triggered when exposed to UV light.

And a similar reaction occurs with sweat and oils.

How to clean a yellow smartphone case?

ESR, a company specializing in cases for tablets, smartphones and other devices, has shared what it calls ‘the simplest and most affordable solution.’

Mix a few drops of dish soap with warm water and gently scrub the case with a toothbrush.

And make sure to get in all the tiny cutouts and notches on the interior and exterior.

‘Finally, rinse the case and dry it with a soft cloth. You can leave it to air dry for an hour or so. If possible, repeat this process once or twice a week,’ ESR shared.

You can also use backing soda, but apply the powder dry to the case.

The grab a wet toothbrush and scrub away.

Once done, rinse the case and dry it with a soft cloth. Let it aid dry before using it on your phone.

And the final method from ESR is scrubbing alcohol.

‘Pour the alcohol into a spray bottle, using the bottle to spray the alcohol on the case. Alternatively, you can use a cloth soaked in alcohol,’ ESR’s blog post.

With the exterior and interior coated, take a soft dry cloth to remove the alcohol. Once done, let it air dry for about an hour. 

‘This will ensure it is dry enough to use on your phone.’

Another online tip, dubbed ‘Grandma’s recipe,’ calls for a mixture of baking soda, lemon juice and vinegar.

First mix the backing soda and lemon juice into a paste and apply it to the case with a toothbrush, then in a bowl with vinegar.

Let it sit for about one hour, and then rinse.