By Christine Lavelle HIGH street retailer John Lewis faces a massive fine after it was revealed they failed to do proper safety checks while refurbishing premises in Edinburgh which led to 15 construction workers potentially being exposed to asbestos. Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard today (Mon) that some of the men were told to carry on [...]
By Christine Lavelle THE fate of X Factor sensation Gamu Nhengu will be revealed tomorrow (Mon) as her family finds out whether or not they get to stay in Scotland. The 18-year-old’s family, who live in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, have been faced with the possibility that they may be deported to their native Zimbabwe since it [...]
By Christine Lavelle A MOTORCYCLIST died following emergency CPR from ambulance staff after his bike collided with a car in Fife. The accident happened at around 5.15pm yesterday (Sat) on the B942 Colinsburgh to Pittenweem road. Two ambulance crews attended, and were supported by a trauma team from Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital. Paramedics tried desperately to [...]
By Christine Lavelle PRISON bosses in Scotland have refused to ban violent films and video games despite being given the green light from human rights activists. In England, inmates are not allowed to play certificate 18 murder simulators because of fears that they will fuel aggression. And some prisons have banned X-rated adult movies. However, [...]
By Christine Lavelle SOCIAL networking sites could be held accountable for cyber bullying if Scottish teachers go ahead with their planned legal battle on websites like Facebook. The country’s largest teaching union – the Education Institute of Scotland (EIS) – said it receives between 50 and 60 complaints a year from teachers claiming to have [...]
By Christine Lavelle SCOTLAND’S largest police force is planning to get more officers out working on the streets in a bid to bring back “old style policing”. Strathclyde Police Chief Constable Stephen House said five times more constables will go back on the beat. The number of officers on patrol every day would rise from [...]
By Christine Lavelle AN Edinburgh chippy has been cheating gambling laws right under the noses of policemen who use the takeaway. The Deep Sea, at the top of Leith Walk, still owns and operates a fruit machine, even though a new law was brought in last year, banning non-gambling premises from having them. But – [...]
By Christine Lavelle THE cousin of an Edinburgh pensioner who lay dead in her flat for five years before being discovered by police has inherited her £110,000 fortune. Isabella Purves’ decomposed body was found at her Canonmills home in July last year, after a neighbour noticed water dripping from the flat. The former nurse’s cousin [...]
By Christine Lavelle Burke and Hare, starring Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis, is released in the UK on October 30. Images come from Edinburgh University’s Anatomy Museum and the Surgeon’s Hall:
By Clare Carswell THE MAN in charge of 1 SCOTS during a gruelling six month tour of Afghanistan will lead his troops on an emotional homecoming parade down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh today (sat) – before standing down as Commanding Officer. Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Herbert – who lost three men while on deployment – [...]
By Christine Lavelle SCOTLAND’S lighthouses are being celebrated in a new exhibition at the National Museum in Edinburgh. Marking the 200th anniversary of the world’s longest surviving lighthouse – the Bell Rock near Arbroath – the display tells the story of the people who built and operated some of the country’s oldest lighthouses. It features [...]
By Christine Lavelle A SPECIALIST rope squad called in over safety fears at Edinburgh Castle have been forced to remove four tonnes of volcanic rock from its world famous cliff face. Roads beneath the huge castle rock were ordered to close earlier this month after large chunks of stone were dislodged during heavy rain falls, [...]
By Cara Sulieman DISGRACED former Labour politician Jim Devine persuaded a friend to call his office manager pretending to be a journalist looking into MPs expenses, it was claimed today. But when she took time off for stress after discovering his actions had been an elaborate hoax, he told other staff that it was her [...]
By Christine Lavelle IT has been revealed that the woman who leapt to her death from a fourth floor window of the Caledonian Hilton Hotel in Edinburgh was American businesswoman Melanie Tong. The 30-year-old was an associate at London management consultancy firm McKinsey and Co, and is believed to have checked in to the five-star [...]
By Christine Lavelle POLICE believe an attack on a 21-year-old Indian man in Edinburgh at the weekend was racially motivated. The victim was walking with a friend towards Market Street at around 3.40am on Saturday, when they passed a woman arguing with two men. He stopped to assist the woman but was punched on the [...]
By Christine Lavelle A WOMAN was treated for smoke inhalation after a kitchen fire ripped through her home in the Borders. The blaze started in the ground floor of the house in Heiton, near Kelso, at around 4pm today (Mon) and spread quickly before breaking into the second floor bedroom. A 37-year-old woman managed to [...]
By Christine Lavelle AN elderly woman was assaulted and injured during a break-in at her home in the Borders. The 81-year-old was in bed when she reportedly heard noises coming from the living room, and as she struggled to get up a man entered her bedroom. He demanded money, but the woman refused and she [...]
By Christine Lavelle and Amanda MacMillan A SECONDARY school in West Lothian has become one of the first in Scotland to make a PE qualification compulsory in a bid to meet national targets. All 164 second year pupils at Broxburn Academy – where Standard Grades are taken over three years – have started working towards [...]
By Cara Sulieman A MAN has appeared in court charged with sexually assaulting young girls in his own shop. Mohammed Asghar, 56, faces four charges of assault and one of breach of the peace for his alleged behaviour towards three girls on various dates between October 2006 and June this year. At Edinburgh Sheriff Court [...]
By Christine Lavelle A WALKING stick used to bludgeon its late 19th century British spy and explorer owner to death is to be auctioned off on Wednesday. William Gill’s intricately carved stick was used to bludgeon him to death in 1883 in the Sinai desert, on the border of Egypt and Israel, when he was [...]