A FORMER Baywatch actress is on the way to solve the mystery of a Scots man who disappeared while hunting for Noah’s Ark. Donna D’Errico, also a former Playboy star, is filming a new documentary at suspected Ark location Mount Ararat in Turkey where Stornoway man Donald Mackenzie went missing in 2010. The 44-year-old, who [...]
A HOMELESS hostel where an explosion last night injured two people was once home to convicted rapist and murderer Kevin Rooney. A resident of the property in Edinburgh, named locally as Robert Cowan, 39, managed to escape the blazing building but is in hospital with serious burns to his arms and face. Another resident, a [...]
WE’VE had the naked rambler, naked squaddies…and now naked Munro baggers. Intrepid mountain climbers are being invited by a website to send in pictures of themselves baring all on Scotland’s highest peaks. The site – nakedmunrobagging.com – cheekily boasts: “It’s going to be huge.” A Munro is a Scottish mountain over 3000ft and [...]
A SCOTTISH police chief faces renewed scrutiny after a councillor said he had “deep reservations” about the management of Tayside Police. Justine Curran, the chief constable of the force, was recently hit by anonymous accusations about her conduct from a group calling itself the “loyal staff of Tayside Police”. She was backed by a meeting [...]
A MASS brawl at a miners’ club resulted in every single on-duty police officer from two Scottish counties racing to the scene. Police chiefs called in officers from all 14 police stations in East and Midlothian after a battle erupted involving up to 60 drinkers. The disturbance at Dalkeith Miners’ Welfare Social Club in Midlothian [...]
ALMOST two thirds of staff at the government body responsible for promoting sport in Scotland do not meet their own targets for exercise. Workers at Sportscotland appear to be a bunch of couch potatoes with 60% admitting they fail to reach the minimum exercise target of 30 minutes five times a week. And over 12% [...]
RECKLESS Scots schoolchildren have shocked fishermen by playing “chicken” with their boats. The youngsters leap off the harbour wall at North Berwick, East Lothian, into the path of fishing vessels. Officials fear it is only a matter of time before a teenager is killed as a result of the craze. Children have already had [...]
EDINBURGH will celebrate an annual Robert Louis Stevenson Day to pay tribute to his literary masterpieces. Organisers hope the accolade to the Treasure Island author will match the popularity of Dublin’s Bloomsday tribute to James Joyce. The City of Literature Trust will designate November 13, the writer’s birthday, as Robert Louis Stevenson day. The [...]
FOREIGN criminals are getting a telephone translation service in prison to make sure they do not miss out on their rights. Around 280 foreigners are locked up in Scottish prisons at an annual cost to taxpayers of more than £9m. Now the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is making translators available by phone at a cost [...]
A DEMENTIA patient in her nineties was grabbed by the neck and force-fed by staff at a scandal-hit nursing home, a hearing was told. Mary Reid Easton faces 22 charges of misconduct relating to her time as deputy manager of Hilton Gardens, Larkhall, North Lanarkshire. The senior nurse is accused of stopping the dementia patient [...]
A GOOD Samaritan who confronted a thug harassing people at a bus stop has told how his cheek was smashed and he suffered anti-English abuse. Malcolm Brown, a 66-year-old retired merchant navy captain, said he had to be held back after he was punched in the face and called an “English b******”. Malcolm, who is [...]
FOOTAGE of Brad Pitt battling zombies on the streets of Scotland may never see the light of day, film chiefs have admitted. The makers of World War Z spent a fortune – and generated huge excitement – turning a Glasgow street into Philadelphia and further scenes were shot in Grangemouth. But insiders say the movie [...]
FOUR fire crews raced to a nuclear power station early today after a blaze broke out. Crews were called to Torness power station, East Lothian, after lagging on a pipe caught fire. The station’s on-site fire team was able to put out the fire before the brigade arrived. Managers insisted there was no risk to [...]
A SCOTS veteran of 1950s nuclear tests has won a landmark legal victory against the Ministry of Defence. David Whyte witnessed five nuclear blasts in the Pacific and says the radiation robbed him of the chance of ever starting a family. As well as being made sterile, the 75-year-old from Kirkcaldy, Fife, has been plagued [...]
AN offshore worker has revealed how his Highlands railway trip to horror – when the train hit his father and brother. Gerhard Kolarczyk, 87, and his 52-year-old son, Paul, were visiting Scotland from Germany when they were struck by a train as they walked along the West Highland railway line on Tuesday evening. Paul is [...]
A GANG of feral teenagers as young as 13 viciously attacked a 64-year-old man as he left a Chinese takeaway, putting him in hospital. The victim was attacked between 11 and 11.30pm on Wednesday night in Edinburgh’s Craigentinny Road. He suffered a broken hip after being pushed to the ground. The group of youths, aged [...]
A SMARTPHONE app will allow victims of payment protection mis-selling to get compensation without paying big fees to claims firms. The DIY app will allow customers to claim back money themselves from mis-sold loans and credit card insurance. Julie Lee, a claims industry insider, has developed the iPhone app to make the entire claiming process [...]
SCOTS Olympian Lynsey Sharp has hit back at a Twitter troll who said she should lose her funding and called her performance “pathetic”. Sharp missed out on the finals of the women’s 800m after a seventh-place finish in the semi-finals last night (thur). The 22-year-old’s selection for the squad was controversial as she was chosen [...]
A POLICE force is facing criticism after it looks to fit new intruder alarms to more than a dozen stations. Officials at Strathclyde Police are also asking if there is someone else who can “operate and maintain a 24 hour emergency response facility” for police stations. The force will spend nearly £105,000 to have the [...]
THE LADYBOYS of Bangkok are back in Edinburgh for their 15th year starring in the new show- Carnival Queens. Sequins, silver stilettos and skimpy outfits were all part of the dress code today for the open-air dance session. The Lady Boys were out learning the art of Zumba and preparing for their new show at [...]