A murder inquiry has been launched following the death of a 30-year-old man in Edinburgh.
Around 8pm on Thursday, 5 May, 2022, Liam Maloney was seriously assaulted on Niddrie Marischal Road, near to its junction with Niddrie Marischal Grove..He was taken by ambulance to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where he died yesterday (Saturday, 7 May).
His relatives are aware and a report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal.
A post mortem examination has been carried out and the death is being treated as murder.
Detective Chief Inspector Frank Travers, of the Major Investigation Team, said: “This appears to have been a targeted incident and we do not believe there is any risk to the wider public.
“Extensive police enquiries are ongoing at this time and officers are gathering CCTV footage from the surrounding area.Door to door inquiries are also being carried out.
“We will have a continued police presence in the area and I would like to reassure the local community that everything is being done to trace the person responsible.
“I would ask anyone who was in the Niddrie Marischal Road and Niddrie Marischal Grove area on Thursday night, and who may have seen or heard a disturbance, or witnessed anything suspicious, to please get in touch with us.
“We have also set up a website that gives members of the public access to a form to send information directly to the Major Investigation Team.
“Anyone with any CCTV, dashcam or any other footage that they think would assist the enquiry can also send this via this link.
“You can select to remain anonymous when submitting information.
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by the Health Promotion and Education Team at Heart Research UK
Healthy Heart Tip: Walking
May is National Walking Month, which encourages us to leave the car at home and find ways to incorporate more walking into our days. Walking a little each day can offer a great benefit to our overall health and wellbeing, including our heart.
It is a low-impact form of exercise so most people can give it a go. Right now is also the perfect time of year to get outside as the evenings lighten and temperatures start to warm up.
Here are some ideas to help you clock up more steps this May (and beyond!):
Set a Goal
This can really help you make walking a daily habit. A good example would be aiming to walk for twenty minutes a day, five days a week. Plan your week every Sunday evening and schedule in you walking times to make sure they happen. You could even ask a friend to commit to walking with you to help you stay motivated.
Set up Walking Meetings
For those of us working from offices, swap your usual desk-based meetings for walking ones. This can be done in person with colleagues, or on the telephone, using headphones.
Make it Fun
Get the kids involved by going on a scavenger hunt or wildlife spotting walk. You could simply head out with the family and look out for certain colour cars, anything to add an element of fun!
Male motorists are clocking-up more than twice as many penalty points as their female counterparts, according to new data from the Department for Transport (DfT).
Male drivers racking up three penalty points on their licences currently total 1,343,700, compared to 606,700 for female drivers, as of the 5 February this year.
The number of male drivers with six points is 395,000, whereas with female motorists the figure is 120,600.
Greg Wilson, Founder of Quotezone.co.uk, a leading insurance comparison website, comments: “The data suggests that women are the more cautious drivers – racking up less penalty points. However, the differences are stark to say the least and concerning.”
Greg Wilson warns that law breaking motorists will feel the effect: “At a time when all of us are looking to tighten our belts, penalty points can really hit motorists in the pocket. In addition to legal fines that accompany the points, offending motorists’ insurance companies will reassess how they see their risk and in turn premium.
“Three points can raise insurance premiums by 5%, but can rachet up fees by as much as 25% if a motorist has six points on a licence. Remember, penalty points stay on a licence for four years and the corresponding rise in insurance fees may do so as well.”
The data further shows that 1,120 women and 6,100 men have 12 points on their licences, which leads to an automatic ban – called a TT99. If a driver is disqualified from driving under this ‘totting up’ system, they will have had a TT99 conviction code added to their driving record, which means they’ll likely have to pay considerably more for their ‘TT99 insurance’ after the period of disqualification ends.
Greg Wilson continues: “Motorists who can prove exceptional circumstances in court may be allowed to continue driving, but the courts are far from pushovers and the judge has the power to award the maximum fine and determine the length of the ban – over 56 days means the driver has to reapply for the license and maybe even retest.”
Insurance providers are prohibited from using gender as part of their risk analysis calculation, as per The Equality Act established in 2010. They use other factors such as the level of no claims bonus secured, age, postcode, vehicle specifications and of course, number of penalty points incurred, to help determine the most appropriate premium price per customer.
Motorists who want to reduce the effect of penalty points might try the following to keep their premiums as low as possible:
Sign-up to a telematics product recognised by their insurance firm, which allows them to showcase their new safer driving behaviour
There are specialist insurance policies for drivers with penalty points that can help – shop around on comparison websites for specialist driver policies
Two patients have spoken out on Skin Cancer Awareness Month about the difference NHS Lothian’s treatment has made to their lives.
Alan Vannan, 62 from Peebles, was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the second most common skin cancer, and has been administered with immunotherapy for two years.
Prior to this, patients like Alan with advanced SCC who’ve exhausted other treatment, such as surgery and radiotherapy, wouldn’t have had other options.
Alan said: “It started with a lump on my neck and cheek, so I went to the GP.
“When I saw the doctor at St John’s, he took one look and diagnosed it as skin cancer and said they’d need to operate on it quickly. A Macmillian nurse, who’s been brilliant, called me on the way home.
“Processing what people are telling you after a cancer diagnosis can be the most difficult part.
“Next was the surgery followed by radiotherapy, which wasn’t easy. Beforehand, I always thought of skin cancer as something minor and easily treated.”
Unfortunately, after his treatment, Alan received the news that the cancer hadn’t gone away.
Alan continued: “That was a difficult time. They couldn’t operate further. It came as a bit of a shock. Mentally, it was hard to process. They told me I had months left and that’s when I went to Dr Mackenzie.
“I was given immunotherapy and it’s the best thing that’s happened to me. I’ve gone from being told I had months to it being two years later.
“As soon as I started taking the drug the wound healed up. For me, it’s been absolutely fantastic. Every time I’ve got a scan I expected it to get worse, but it never has.
“I can’t praise the staff highly enough. The nurses, surgeons, radiologists and oncologists at the Western General and St John’s, and the Macmillian nurses, have all been amazing.”
Dr Joanna Mackenzie, Consultant Clinical Oncologist at Edinburgh Cancer Centre (above), said: “We’re always looking for ways to improve how we support our patients, and this has been a huge step forward in our management of difficult skin cancers.
“To see it make such a difference to people like Alan who, just a few years ago, we wouldn’t have had the tools to help is really fulfilling for us as a team.
“We’re also looking to conduct research to see if immunotherapy can be used at an earlier stage to help a wider number of patients with SCC.”
NHS Lothian last year also invested in a new superficial x-ray machine which treats basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the most common type of skin cancer.
The machine is used for patients where surgery is not the preferred option, which can be due to other health conditions or the location of the cancer.
BCC is rarely life-threatening but is typically seen on the face and attacks surrounding healthy tissue, sometimes leading to deformity.
Lynda Gordon, 74, from Joppa, said: “About two years ago, I woke up with a hole at the end of my nose, so I contacted the GP.
“I was referred to the hospital at Lauriston and had an appointment to meet with a plastic surgeon, an oncologist and a dermatologist at the Joint Cutaneous Oncology Clinic.
“It was diagnosed as a BCC and I chose to receive radiotherapy.
“An operation would have required taking skin from elsewhere and because I’ve had that before, with an SCC in 2017, I couldn’t go through that again.
“I went for the procedure at the cancer centre in February with this new machine.
“I went every weekday for one week. Staff are lovely and make sure to explain everything. It only takes about two minutes each time.
“The healing process was a bit unpleasant but three to four weeks later it settled, and my nose is looking absolutely fine. I’m really pleased with the results.
“The care provided by staff is just brilliant.”
This Skin Cancer Awareness Month, NHS Lothian is also urging everyone to take simple precautions when enjoying the sun.
Dr Mackenzie continued: “It’s easy for us to think that, because we see many months of cold weather, the summer months can’t cause too much damage.
“But whether at home or abroad, we all need to make the effort to protect our skin.
“Simple ways to do so are avoiding the sun at peak times and wearing high-factor sunscreen as well as hats, sunglasses and clothing which covers sensitive areas more prone to sun damage.
“Please contact your GP if you’re concerned about any unusual changes to your skin.”
My name is Ben Liddall. You may remember me through the 100 day running challenge I did at the start of 2021 to raise funds for the MyNamesDoddie campaign.
This was a great experience for me and while I have lots of plans to do more things like this again in the future I would like to pass the torch to my friend Ronan Ratcliffe who is taking on an absolutely astounding challenge, beginning at the end of May. Here is a brief description from Ronan about what he is doing.
It is really incredible what he aims to do:
“Hi there, my name is Ronan, and I’m aiming to walk 140 miles across Scotland at the start of June to raise money for the UK mental health charity ‘Samaritans.’
“The walk will take me from Fort William in the Highlands, across to Glendoll Forest, just north of Dundee. It consists of approximately 40 Munroes (any mountain in Scotland over 3,000ft) including Ben Nevis, and roughly 45,000 feet of elevation.
“I aim to start the walk on the 30th of May and be finished by the 6th or 7th of June. Along the way I will be wild camping about 50% of the time, and staying in Bothies (an unlocked shelter to be used free of charge in mountainous areas) the other half of the time. The route I am taking is almost completely remote, only passing over 2 public roads the whole time.
“If you would like to read into the backstory of why I am doing this, please read through my GoFundMe page below:
“However, if not, I would really appreciate it if you could donate some money to it, or even just share the fundraiser around. It is my goal to raise £2500 and hopefully with your help I can do that.”
Family of the first British soldier to land on Guernsey soil after the liberation of the island tell his story ahead of the VE day anniversary celebrations.
Family were due to travel from all corners of the UK to Guernsey for the 75th anniversary celebrations in 2020 but are attending this year instead.
Sargent-Major Robert Shaw who was born in September 1915 in Springburn, Glasgow, was the first British soldier to land on Guernsey soil after the liberation of the island from the German occupation at the end of the second world war on 9 May 1945.
Shaw was part of the Task Force 135, the British Military Contingent that liberated the island as part of the operation Nestegg exercise.
To honour his memory, Shaw’s three children and 4 grandchildren will be travelling from Scotland to Jersey and Guernsey this weekend to attend the postponed VE Day celebrations on Monday 9th May. The family were set to visit and attend the 75th anniversary celebrations in 2020 however this was cancelled due to Covid.
Sargent-Major Shaw of the REME unit was on the first ship that came into L’Ancresse Bay to liberate the island in 1945 and Mr Shaw was the first to disembark, riding off on the landing craft on a motorcycle followed by a number of armoured vehicles.
Mr Shaw “met no opposition whatsoever except for the mobbing of the soldiers by the hilariously enthusiastic population”.
The first person he met was a local boy called John Rault who was cycling on the right hand side of the road. Mr Shaw stopped the little boy and told him to “cycle on the British side of the road which was the left hand side” as he was worried the little boy would be knocked over by the other vehicles behind him.
Forty seven years later in 1992, Mr Shaw visited Guernsey from Scotland again to receive commemorative Liberation medallions with a number of other war veterans.
After the local newspaper printed his story, the very same little boy, now an adult, Mr Rault read about the event in the local paper and remembered it and contacted Mr Shaw at the hotel he was staying in.
The two met up, reconnected and re-told the story and stayed in touch until Mr Shaw passed away in 2005 aged 89.
While Mr Shaw’s REME were in Guernsey they used a local garage called ‘Ash’s Garage’ for the repair of vehicles. He himself was a trained motor mechanic and told a local newspaper in 1992 “The British officers were anxious to get use of German cars while stationed on the island”.
Mr Shaw was interested to see how vehicles had been converted to charcoal burning units to overcome the shortage of petrol. During his post-war stay, Mr Shaw worked with German troops who were needed to help in the garage. He also visited the islands of Jersey and Sark and he also met the Dame of Sark at the time.
Robert Shaw went on to marry an English wartime nurse called Esme Collinson and started a family in Glasgow, where he lived until he died.
His son, retired Motor Retail Group Director Martin Shaw said: “My father was so proud of being part of such a historic moment in liberating the island of Guernsey after the war.
“He talked about this moment throughout his whole life and he was thrilled to be invited back in 1992 to receive an official commemorative medallion with 170 surviving veterans of Task Force 135. The fact he managed to reconnect with the very little boy he stopped all those years ago was just magical for him.
“Visiting Guernsey as a family in his memory this year will be such a special moment for us to be together and remember all those that fought with him in the war.”
The Shaw family would love to reconnect with Mr Rault’s family if they are still based on the island this weekend to continue the family relationship.
The North Edinburgh community came out in force yesterday to enjoy the North Edinburgh Community Festival at West Pilton Park.
More than fifty local organisations contributed to a memorable day of music, food, arts and crafts, entertainment and information.
Local activist Willie Black, who chairs the Festival organising committee, said the hard work involved in staging the event had proved worthwhile.
“Covid has meant that it’s been a long time since our community has been able to have a party so it was great to see local folk coming out in huge numbers to enjoy themselves.
“Today has been a celebration of everything that makes North Edinburgh special and I’d like to thank each and very individual and organisation who contributed so much to making the festival such a huge success.”
The UK has confirmed £1.3 billion new funding for military operations and aid to Ukraine, this comes on top of the UK’s existing £1.5bn support to Ukraine, which included around £400 million in humanitarian aid and grants to the Ukrainian government, and unlocking over £700 million in lending from the World Bank through guarantees.
Prime Minister will attend virtual G7 meeting to discuss support for Ukraine, including provision of defensive legal aid
This comes on top of the £24 billion increase in defence spending announced in 2020, the biggest sustained increase in UK defence since the Cold War
The Chancellor today confirms £1.3 billion to meet the ongoing costs of military support to Ukraine during this financial year.
This is the highest rate of UK military spending on a conflict, since the height of the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan when 43,000 UK troops were deployed, and the sum spent supporting Ukraine continues to rise as the conflict endures.
The announcement comes as the Prime Minister and other G7 leaders meet virtually with President Zelenskyy today [Sunday], to mark VE day and discuss support for Ukraine’s long-term future as a sovereign and democratic country, including defensive lethal aid.
On Tuesday, the Prime Minister announced £300 million for electronic warfare equipment, a counter battery radar system, GPS jamming equipment and thousands of night vision devices – this will be funded from the £1.3bn increase.
This announcement will also help support the thriving defence industry in the UK. The Prime Minister and Defence Secretary will host a meeting of leading defence companies later this month to discuss ramping up production in response to increased demand created by the conflict in Ukraine and a global shift away from Russian-made weaponry.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine – it is also threatening peace and security across Europe.
“The UK was the first country to recognise the scale of the threat and send arms to help the Ukrainians defend themselves. We will stand by that endeavour, working with our allies to ensure Ukraine can continue to push back the Russian invasion and survive as a free and democratic country.
“In the process, we are bolstering our own security and economy, turbocharging the development and production of cutting-edge defence equipment here in the UK.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “The situation in Ukraine continues to cause immense suffering with every day bringing new, tragic stories of Putin’s brutality.
“We are unwavering in our support for the people of Ukraine – and this extra £1.3 billion will ensure we continue to provide the necessary military and operational support they need to defend themselves against Putin.
“The UK is at the forefront providing economic, humanitarian and defensive support to Ukraine and we are working tirelessly to bring an end to this conflict.”
The additional £1.3 billion comes from the Reserve – funds the UK Government has set aside for the most pressing emergencies. This latest commitment, announced by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak today, is in addition to the UK’s current package that totals well over £1.5billion.
The support already provided includes around £400million in humanitarian aid and grants and unlocking over £700m in additional World Bank lending through loan guarantees.
The UK government is also supporting Ukrainian refugees fleeing the crisis through the Homes for Ukraine and Ukraine Family Scheme. So far more than 86,000 people have been given visas through the scheme, and more than 27,000 have already arrived in the UK.
The Integrated Review of Foreign and Defence policy resulted in the largest boost to defence in a generation, with an additional £24 billion allocated over four years to allow our armed forces to undertake a modernisation programme to reflect a rapidly changing world with emerging threats.
Police are appealing for information following a fatal road crash on Marionville Road on Friday night.
The incident happened around 10.50pm on Friday (6 May, 2022), and involved a silver Vauxhall Zafira and a pedestrian. Emergency services attended and the 62-year-old female pedestrian Suzanne Farrell was taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where she died yesterday (Saturday, 7 May).
The 33-year-old male driver of the car was arrested in connection and released pending further enquiries.
Sergeant Ross Drummond, of the Edinburgh Road Policing Unit, said: “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the woman who has died in this crash and our enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.
“I am asking anyone who may have been in the area at the time and saw what happened or who has dash-cam footage that could assist with our investigation to get in touch.”
Anyone with information should call Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 4131 of 6 May.
