Copfs

A former teacher and football coach who was surrendered from Vietnam to stand trial for the sexual abuse of young boys has been jailed for five years. Kenneth Divers abused the boys, some as young as 11, at various locations including Hampden Park and two schools in Paisley between 1968 and 1992.

A window cleaner who was caught on a video doorbell camera attempting to rape an elderly woman has been jailed for four years and six months. James McArdle, 64, from Hamilton, Lanarkshire, admitted sexually assaulting the 74-year-old woman, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Two pupils from St Peter the Apostle High School in Clydebank have been crowned winners of this year’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) school public speaking competition.

A seafood company has been fined £80,000 after a fisherman drowned when his leg was caught in a rope and he was pulled overboard. Thurso-based Scrabster Seafoods Limited pled guilty to health and safety breaches at Tain Sheriff Court on 7 June 2023.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has lodged first notices with the Sheriff Court to begin the court process for conjoined fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of James Garscadden, Thomas Thompson and Marius Bauba. All three men died while in legal custody at HMP Shotts. Their

Three men have been sentenced after admitting using dogs to hunt wild hares. Euan Anderson, Nicky Grant and Jordon Steel, all from South Lanarkshire, had previously pled guilty at Stirling Sheriff Court to wildlife offences.

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has lodged a first notice to begin the court process for a joint fatal accident inquiry into the deaths of Katie Allan and William Lindsay. Katie and William both died while in legal custody at Polmont HMYOI. An FAI is mandatory under Section 2(

A 67-year-old waterfowl enthusiast has been sentenced for killing multiple birds. Barry Nicolle, who runs an exotic wildfowl breeding farm in Dumfries and Galloway, has been given a Community Payback Order and ordered to carry out 216 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty at Dumfries Sheriff Co

Three secondary schools will next month go head-to-head in the final of a public speaking contest. Pupils from The Royal High School, Edinburgh; Shawlands Academy, Glasgow; and St Peter the Apostle, Clydebank, will battle it out for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) national sch

A construction and telecommunication company has been fined £550,000 after an employee fell from a stepladder and was impaled on metal piping. The company was also ordered to pay the deceased’s family £200,000 in compensation.

A care home has been fined £20,000 for health and safety failings which led to the death of a vulnerable 90-year-old man. Tigh-Na-Muirn Limited, which runs Tigh Na Muirn Residential Home in Dundee, pled guilty to a health and safety at work breach committed between 20 March and 1 June 2020.

A salmon farming company has been fined £800,000 after an employee was crushed and drowned when he fell into the water during a boat transfer. Fife-based Mowi Scotland Limited pled guilty to health and safety breaches at Inverness Sheriff Court yesterday.

A student who laundered thousands of pounds for a major gangland criminal has been jailed for 18 months. Sums totalling £160,000 were washed through four bank accounts belonging to Xiaotong Huang.

The Crown is to appeal the sentence imposed on Sean Hogg for the rape of a 13-year-old girl on the grounds that it is ‘unduly lenient’. Hogg, 21, was convicted in the High Court on 7 March and was sentenced on 3 April 2023. He was ordered to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work. He wa

A police officer who began a sexual relationship with a vulnerable woman he met while on duty has been jailed for 14 months for an attempt to pervert the course of justice. Former PC Gavin Donaldson, from Midlothian, had admitted telling the woman to delete thousands of emails and messages they had