by Rory Reynolds

Over the last seven weeks at the High Court in Edinburgh, a jury has heard the prosecution case against eight men aged between 23 and 46 who  face a range of 44 charges relating to child pornography and sex abuse.

Neil Strachan, 41, from Edinburgh,  James Rennie, 38, from Edinburgh, Ross Webber, 27, from North Berwick, Colin Slaven, 23, from Edinburgh, Craig Boath,24, from Dundee,  Neil Campbell, 46, from Glasgow, John Milligan, 40, from Glasgow, John Murphy,44, from  Glasgow, are charged with possessing, making and distributing child pornography.

Six of them, Strachan, Rennie, Webber, Boath, Campbell and Milligan have been charged with conspiring to take part in the commission of sexual offences against children.

Neil Strachan and James Rennie are further accused with a serious sexual assault against a child.

Much of the case is founded on an image known as ‘The Hogmanay image.’ The image, which was apparently found on one of the accused’s computer, is said to have been traced to an email account called kplover99@hotmail.com.

Computing giant Microsoft assisted Scottish detectives who applied for a warrant from the American courts. Microsoft are said to have revealed that the author of the account was James Rennie of Edinburgh.

When questioned about the name of the account, Mr Rennie apparently told police: “It’s me trying to be witty – KP stands for kids porn.

The prosecution has alleged that the image was sent to Mr Rennie by Neil Strachan, who has denied sexually assaulting a young boy on Hogmanay 2005.

Charges of sexual assault against Colin Slaven, 23, have been dropped, but he still faces possession and distribution charges.

The offences are said to have taken place over a seven year period in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee.

The prosecution summed up their case on Friday, and the defence will put forward their case today.

The trial has had to move to the Sheriff Court in Edinburgh, to make way for Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Magrahi’s appeal, which begins today.

by Domenica Goduto and Kirstyn Smith

photo courtesy of typepad

What is swine flu?Swine flu is a respiratory disease which infects pigs, a new strain of the H1N1 influenza virus which is also derived in part by the human influenza virus Type A.  Most outbreaks occur in late autumn and winter on farms, killing between 1% and 4% of animals it infects.  The virus is a mixture of pig, human and avian flus.  The WHO has confirmed that the cases examined are a never-before-seen version of the virus.

Can humans catch it?

While swine flu is not usually found in humans,  the disease can be contracted in two ways.  The virus can be contracted after being in contact with infected pigs, or being in areas in which infected pigs have been kept.  It can also be spread person-to-person in the same way as seasonal flu – through coughing and sneezing.  The infection cannot be caught by eating pork or pork products.

What are the symptoms?

Swine flu has symptoms similar to those of the more common human seasonal form, including respiratory problems, fatigue, fever and lack of appetite.  In some cases, diarrhoea and vomiting have also been reported.  Seasonal flu is caused by viruses that are adapted to spread in humans, who have some natural immunity to common strains and can boost it by immunisation with a vaccine.

Why is swine flu spreading so quickly?

The World Health Organisation is trying to determine this by collecting data on the current outbreak – as yet

Passengers in Mexico wear face masks

not enough is known about the virus determine why it is so highly transmissible. Epidemiologists need more information in order to assess the risk of a global pandemic, and whether the deaths in Mexico were the result of the same virus which is causing milder symptoms in other countries. Mexico is a popular holiday destination, particularly for North Americans, so it is not surprising that a large number of cases have emerged in the wake of the busy spring break period in March and April as school groups and other travellers return from their holidays.

Can the virus be contained?

The fact that cases of swine flu have already been reported as far away as New Zealand means that it is already too late to completely confine the virus at its point of origin. However, governments around the world are taking measures to slow the spread of the illness. In Mexico, officials have banned such traditional forms of greeting as the handshake or the kiss on the cheek, and many locals have taken to wearing protective masks in public. Church services, football matches, and other large-scale public gatherings have been cancelled or restricted, and museums have been closed. Other countries are screening travellers returning from abroad and isolating those who show signs of sickness. Britain’s chief medical officer, Liam Donaldson, has instructed hospitals to be on the look-out for the virus, with special instructions issued concerning possible symptoms and the tests to be performed. It is expected that the government’s £500 million pound stockpile of the tamiflu vaccine will be sufficient to treat any confirmed cases and prevent the illness from spreading among hospital staff and the public.

What treatments are available?

The US authorities have confirmed two drugs which are believed to be most effective in preventing initial symptoms from getting worse: a pill called Tamiflu and an inhaler called Relenza.  However, they also maintain that it is unclear how effective currently available flu vaccines would be at offering protection against the new strain, as it is genetically distinct from other strains.  Scientists in America are developing a bespoke new vaccine designed to combat the new strain of swine flu.  It is feared that it may take some some to perfect and that suppliers may not be able to deal with the huge demand that will be generated.

Nevertheless,  health secretary Alan Johnson says the Britain has £500 million of flu drugs ready, adding:  “Once we know what the strain is we will look to find a vaccine to prevent it and we have a pre-agreement for these vaccines to be produced as soon as we decide.”   

Past cases

In 1976 200 people were left seriously ill and one person was killed by an outbreak of swine flu in New Jersey.  The virus circulated for about a month and then disappered.  In 1988 in Wisconsin, a pregnant lady contracted the disease while in hospital and died soon afterwards.  Between 2005 and 2009, there were 12 human cases of swine flu in American, none of which were fatal. 

Other global pandemics

In 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic infected up to 40% of the world’s population.  More than 50 million people died, mainly young adults.  The H1N1 strain of flu was responsible and this remains the most devastating outbreak of modern times.

In 1957, Asian flu, a human form of the H2N2 virus combined with a mutating strain found in wild ducks, killed 2 million people, with the elderly being the most vulnerable.  However, due to fast action by health authorities, who regonised the strain and rapidly made vaccines available, the impact of the pandemic was minimised.

In 1968, a strain of H3N2, first detected ni Hong Kong, killed up to 1 milion people world wide.

By Phylis Stephen

Mark Porteous Funeral Directors are demanding a plan of action regarding grave toppling in Edinburgh’s graveyards. Despite acknowledging that this is a health and safety issue the funeral directors have accused this as being “disrespectful”  adding: “more kids have fallen off a school roof than been crushed by a headstone”.

The City of Edinburgh Council manages and maintains almost 40 cemeteries in the city. They also maintain a number of historic graveyards such as Greyfriars Kirkyard.

According to the council, since a fatal accident here in Edinburgh in 1982, and following a fatal accident in Yorkshire in 2000 involving a six year old child, a policy has been developed by the Council to have any “unsafe” headstones laid flat in case they fall on a child playing there…..who presumably should not be there in the first place! Have you ever allowed your six year old child ever go into a cemetery far less use it as an unsupervised play area? So for the last seven years headstones in the cemeteries have been flattened where they are thought to be the least bit wobbly or dangerous. City workmen have undergone training to assist them make their minds up what is and is not safe.

According to one of the city’s undertakers this practice is another case of health and safety gone mad. “It is” he said, (and for obvious reasons he did not want to be named) “vandalism under an official hat. The desecration of the city’s graveyards is unforgivable as most of these stones would never have moved from their position.”

He went on to tell me that one of the worst is the Morningside Cemetery in Balcarres Street where beautiful old stones have been torn down where considered unsafe. When I spoke to the Chair of Morningside Community Council, Jean Thompson, she told me that the Community Council have discussed this issue more than once and that they support the City Council’s policy. She said “It is making the place safe for the public while minimising the upset to relatives.”

Dr Derek Browning, minister at Morningside Parish Church, told me that he finds it sad that cemeteries are not as well tended as they used to be when people would regularly visit family graves every few weeks. But, he thinks this may be one result of social change and mentioned that the more mobile communities of modern times mean that some families have become very far-flung. As well as this many cemeteries are almost full and the number of burials is declining in favour of cremation. “ I suppose in these cash-strapped times it is difficult to justify the cost.” he said to me.

The legal position is that in the council-owned graveyards the council maintain the paths and grassy areas but the owners of the grave or lair are responsible for maintaining the headstone. Then after the last person who is to be buried in the grave is dead and gone the right vests in his or her executor and they are responsible for the maintenance of the grave after that.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, Environment Leader, said: “The Council ensures that it maintains its cemeteries and graveyards in a safe and respectful manner, which is why, like the majority of our fellow local authorities, we have a clear policy regarding the safety of headstones. In order to safeguard against potential accidents or even fatalities from unstable headstones, we believe laying dangerous stones flat with the inscription facing up is the safest and most dignified course of action available. Whilst we understand the effect this has on the appearance of individual graves, we must put the safety of the public first.”

A council spokesman went on to tell me that “Where a headstone is found to be dangerously unstable it is laid flat by using an approved lowering gantry, designed to manoeuvre memorials safely without causing unnecessary damage to the memorial. Since our inspection programme commenced in December 2002, approximately 9,000 headstones have been laid flat in Edinburgh.”

At Saughton Cemetery where I first noticed this problem I spoke to a couple tending to their family grave. This grave has a lovely shiny black headstone and they were the first to tell me that they knew of their obligation to maintain the headstone in a safe condition. But they went on to say that they thought it a great pity that the cemetery generally looked as though it was in a state of disrepair owing to the number of headstones which have been pushed over.

I spoke to a spokeswoman for Historic Scotland who said: “The management of graveyards is mainly a matter for the local authority, although gravestones themselves are often owned by individual families.

“If a listed gravestone is involved it is for the local authority to approach Historic Scotland with a Listed Building Consent application. With listed stones we would prefer to see their repair and resetting.”

Whilst any deaths which may have resulted from accidents caused in this way are very sad is it not a little extreme that the council have now flattened almost 10,000 headstones in the city?

Were they all going to fall on top of somebody?