Three months for
Branson break-in
A MAN was jailed for three months at Rothesay Sheriff Court yesterday for breaking into the home of Virgin boss Richard Branson's cousin and causing more than #6000 worth of damage.
Gordon Patrick, 22, of Braid Park Drive, Giffnock, Glasgow, admitted smashing 92 panes of glass in the house on Inchmarnock island owned by Mr and Mrs Ian Branson. He was also ordered to pay #600 compensation. A second man, Alistair McLean, 25, of Castlehill Drive, Newton Mearns, was fined #450 for stealing two chairs from the property and using them to start a beachside barbecue.
Homicide charge
A FIFE teenager appeared in private at Cupar Sheriff Court yesterday charged with the culpable homicide of Mr Derek Walker, 24, in Anstruther on Saturday night. Alexander Anderson, 17, of Waid Terrace, Anstruther, made no plea or declaration and was remanded in custody.
House fire death
A FIVE-year-old boy died yesterday after a candle apparently set fire to his bedroom. Mrs Claudia Miller, 37, is being treated for burns and smoke inhalation after failing to save her son Peter from the fire at their semi-detached home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. She escaped with her four other children.
Culloden exhibits
EVENTS marking next year's 250th anniversary of Culloden are expected to attract a record number of visitors. The National Trust for Scotland expects 300,000 people to see its Sword And The Sorrows exhibition of private artefacts and memorabilia at the battlefield visitor centre between April 16 and September 20.
Message missed
FESTIVE tipplers are failing to heed the anti-drink-drive message of Highland Police. Last week's figures show 18 arrests for drink-driving, two up on the same period last year.
Road victims
TWO pensioners and a schoolgirl died yesterday after being injured in road accidents: Mr Alexander Smith, 85, of Alloa, Clackmannanshire, who was hit by a car on December 11; Kay McCormack, 9, who was knocked down in Blackburn, West Lothian, at the weekend; and Mrs Margaret Richardson, 82, of North Berwick, from injuries suffered in an accident in East Lothian on December 5.
Teed off
THE new captain of Nairn Dunbar Golf Club, Mr Hamish Bunker, 45, is used to hearing jokes about his name. ``I once tried to join the works golf club,'' he said. ``But the secretary tore up my application - he thought it was a practical joke . . . I've heard all the quips but, unlike my club colleagues, I don't spend much time in those things I call sandtraps.''
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