Police seek witnesses to Easter Road assault

Police are appealing for witnesses following a serious assault on Easter Road on Thursday. The incident took place at around 11am near the Londis convenience store.

A 57-year-old man was walking his dog, when a male walked passed him before punching him to the face. During an ensuing violent struggle between the two men the victim was bitten on the cheek.

Eventually, the victim was assisted by the driver of a white minibus who drove him away from the area. Officers are now urging anyone who can assist with their enquiry to come forward.

The suspect is described as white, 25 to 30 years old and between 5 ft’ 5 and 5 ft’10 inches tall with short bright ginger hair. He was wearing a grey zip-up hooded top, with a Hibs crest on the left chest, black top underneath and dark trousers and trainers.

Constable Andrew McMath said: “This incident quickly escalated from a verbal altercation into quite a serious attack, which left the victim with a painful facial injury.

“I would urge anyone who remembers seeing anything suspicious in Easter Road on Thursday morning to contact police immediately. Similarly, if anyone can help us to identify and trace the man responsible for this assault, they should also get in touch.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Free Home Fire Safety visits

If you or someone you know is at risk from fire, contact Scottish Fire and Rescue Service TODAY to arrange a free Home Fire Safety visit.

Call 0800 0731 999 or visit www.firescotland.gov.uk

#StrongerNorth campaign goes on display in Community Shop

Community Shop supports #StrongerNorth initiative

Information about the #StrongerNorth community safety initiative will go on display in Muirhouse Community Shop on Pennywell Road tomorrow and will be backed up by #StrongerNorth Monday sessions at the shop from next week.

Volunteers at Muirhouse Community Shop have created striking window displays to highlight a variety of different campaigns over recent months – Domestic Abuse, Environmental Services and the Independence Referendum have all been featured – and now #StrongerNorth will be in the spotlight.

Tenants organisation TRIM and Muirhouse Community shop is working closely with the #StrongerNorth team and will be welcoming key members of the team to the shop on Mondays from 19 January. Visitors can expect to meet local police officers, Total Craigroyston staff, the Stronger North Project Officer and members of North’s Community Safety team over the coming weeks.

A spokesperson for the community shop said: “We decide what we put in our shop window. We always feel it’s important that we keep it current and what a better way than to start with this? Stronger North was brought about after the residents told police and council we are fed up, things need to change and we want change now. A gold team was set up and meet often to discuss serious issues and a multiagency approach is being worked at. Things will not change overnight – Stronger North is still very new and with support from everyone we are confident it will make a big difference long term.”

For further information about #StrongerNorth call Fraser Sinclair on 529 5023, email stronger.north@edinburgh.gov.uk or visit the #StrongerNorth Facebook page.

Police seek information on Muirhouse assault

Police in Edinburgh are appealing for witnesses following a serious assault that took place in Muirhouse last weekend – details have only now come to light.

A 39-year-old man attended at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on Monday (5 January) having sustained serious injuries to his face in the Muirhouse area during the early hours of that morning.

After being released from hospital on Thursday the victim contacted police to confirm he had been assaulted, but had little recollection of events. Officers are now urging anyone who can assist in establishing the full circumstances surrounding this incident to come forward.

Detective Constable Iain Wallace said: “At this time, we do not know exactly what has happened to result in the man sustaining his injuries, but we believe he may have been involved in an altercation with three men, who are described only as being white and in their thirties.

“As such, we are keen to speak with anyone who believes they saw anything suspicious in the Muirhouse Grove area from 3am on Monday 5th January.

“Similarly, anyone with any further information relevant to this investigation is also asked to contact police immediately.”

Those with information can contact Police Scotland on 101 or alternatively, the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111

Severe weather warning: check before you travel

Scotland is braced for a weekend of storms with winds of up to 100mph overnight and tomorrow followed by snow and ice. Looks like we’re going to have a winter after all …

Government Ministers are receiving regular and detailed updates on preparations for the severe weather due to hit Scotland tonight and tomorrow morning, following a meeting of the Scottish Government’s resilience team this morning.

The Met Office has Amber (be prepared) warnings in place for very strong westerly winds across the north and the central belt.

Parts of Strathclyde, Central, Tayside, Fife and the Lothians will be affected by conditions until around 0800 hours on Friday with gusts of 60-70 mph quite widely expected. The Western Isles, the north and north-west of the mainland and Orkney will see gusts of 80 to 90 mph with a risk of gusts of over 100 mph in places until around midday.

The rest of the country is covered by a Yellow (be alert) warning and winds should quickly ease from the west throughout Friday, before picking on Saturday morning.

Responder authorities in the areas expected to be affected are activating their plans to deal with the potential impacts.

There is expected to be disruption on the transport network and a Multi-Agency Response Team (MART), involving partner organisations, such as Police Scotland, is being activated to monitor conditions and make sure that the public has the latest information.

Utility suppliers are increasing staff resources and putting back-up resources in place to deal with potential disruption to power supplies.

Deputy First Minister, John Swinney said: “The weather fronts will bring particularly strong winds across the north-west of Scotland, the islands and across the central belt overnight and when people are making their way to work in the morning.

“The Scottish Government’s Resilience operation is actively monitoring weather developments and receiving updates from the Met Office, SEPA and the utilities companies, as well as keeping in touch with emergency responders and councils at a local level in the areas likely to be affected by adverse weather

“Contingency plans are being made by transport authorities and passengers should expect cancelations and disruption on ferries and the railways. The travel operators websites will have all of the latest information and people should check them before they set-off on their journey.

“On the roads, bridges could be affected by high winds, and driving conditions could be challenging, particularly for high-sided vehicles. Motorists should allow extra time for their journeys and check the Traffic Scotland website before they set-out.

“Utility companies are increasing resources and moving them to places where the storm is likely to damage the electricity network.

“The Scottish Government’s annual campaign, Ready for Winter, is a good reminder of the simple actions we can all take to prepare for adverse conditions. Information is available at www.readyscotland.org”

SEPA Hydrology Duty Manager David Faichney said: “We are currently in the process of preparing flood alerts and warnings for areas where there is a potential for impacts. We remain in contact with our partners through the Flood Forecast Service and will ensure detailed flood forecasts are available to responders.

“As always we would encourage the public to be mindful of the weather forecast and remain vigilant to the risk of flooding in their area by checking the active flood updates on our website at www.sepa.org.uk/flooding or by signing up to Floodline on 0345 988 1188.”

David Dickson, Network Rail route managing director for Scotland, said: “Safety has to be our first consideration during severe weather. We will be withdrawing a limited number of services on exposed routes tomorrow until the worst of the storm has passed to allow our engineers to thoroughly inspect the network for any damage.

“We will be monitoring conditions on the ground closely throughout the night and into the morning and will have teams ready to respond to any issues caused by the storm.

“We are working closely with the train operators, and other industry partners, to reduce disruption as much as possible while also operating a safe network for passengers.”

SEVERE WEATHER ADVICE

Severe weather has the ability to disrupt our daily lives, in all sorts of ways, like the loss of power and property damage. By knowing what to do to prepare, you will reduce the risks.

Weather conditions and warnings

These can change quickly, so it is essential to keep up-to-date with the latest weather forecast and weather warnings from the Met Office.
Know the Met Office warnings.

Travel

Consider the conditions before you set off and think about how severe weather can impact on you. See Ready Scotland’s advice on travelling.
For real-time journey information, listen to radio reports or visit the Traffic Scotland website/ twitter feed.
For public transport information, check the Traveline website/ twitter feed.
If driving, ensure you and your vehicle are adequately prepared for the conditions.

Loss of utilities

You can take straightforward steps to cope with the loss of power and other utilities.

Flooding

Check SEPA’s website for the latest flooding alerts or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188. You can also sign up to SEPA’s free Floodline direct warning service.

Strong winds

Like flooding, severe winds can occur at any time of year. See Ready Scotland’s advice on how to prepare for severe windy weather.

Severe weather can strike at any time so taking action now will serve you well in winter, and all year round.

In the last few years, we’ve seen it all – snow, floods and strong winds. And it doesn’t take much for it to impact on our daily lives. Like getting stuck indoors for a few days, or losing your phone communication, power or water supply.

Severe weather can cause a range of problems – but you can be ready for them. By doing a few small things now, you can save yourself a lot of trouble later on. You can also do your bit to help out in your community.

See below for information and useful tips on how to prepare:

• In your home
• On the move
• In your community
• In your workplace

Success for festive drink drive campaign

‘Don’t risk it’ message hits home over festive holiday period

Police Scotland statistics have today revealed that the ‘don’t drink and drive’ message has been driven home to motorists across the country.

The new lower drink drive limit of 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood came into force on 5 December 2014, bringing Scotland into line with much of the rest of Europe.

During a four week festive Drink Drive campaign from Road Safety Scotland (part of Transport Scotland) and the Scottish Government, Police Scotland tested 17,504 drivers for alcohol – an average of 625 drivers each day.

A total of 351 drivers were caught under the influence this year compared to 434 in the same period last year – a 19% reduction.

Police detected one drink driver for every 50 (351 from 17,504) tests carried out compared to one drink driver for every 47 (434 from 20,646) tests carried out in the same campaign period last year. Those caught now face the New Year without a licence, a minimum 20-year criminal record and a fine.

Of those caught drink driving, 20 drivers were detected between the new 50mg limit and the previous limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.

And over the period a total of 27 drivers were detected between 6am – 10am, six of whom were between the old and the new limit.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Matheson, said: “These latest statistics show a 19 per cent decrease in the number of drink drive detections over the festive period, and are testament to the immediate effect that the new lower limit has helped to make our roads safer.

“Scotland is leading the way across the UK with the introduction of a lower drink drive limit, which has backing from experts, road safety campaigners and the majority of the public north and south of the border, as well as bringing Scotland into line with almost every other country in Europe.

“We will continue in our efforts to change driver behaviour in order to make our roads safer, and our advice for the year ahead is simple – drink driving is completely unacceptable and puts lives at risk, therefore the best approach is to avoid alcohol altogether if you intend to get behind the wheel.”

With the Christmas and New Year festivities now over, motorists are being reminded that the message not to drink any alcohol at all before driving and to plan journeys the next morning, remains relevant all year round.

Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins of Police Scotland, said: “The initial campaign may be over, but our work continues and the message remains the same – don’t risk it, don’t take any alcohol before you get behind the wheel and it will help you help us keep people safe.

“The new limit is proving a good deterrent in stopping people from drinking and driving, but it is still unacceptable that 351 people chose to ignore all the advice and warnings and get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol. They are not just risking their lives but also those of other road users and pedestrians.

“Make it your New Year’s resolution to never drink and drive and help us keep Scotland’s roads safe.”

The introduction of the new lower limit was supported by a public awareness campaign ahead of the legislation taking effect. This was followed by a high profile social marketing campaign over the festive period across TV, radio, video-on-demand, digital, PR, field activity and partnership working.

The campaign urged members of the public not to drink and drive and advised festive revellers to plan ahead when it came to their travel home from a night out and any journeys in the morning.

The campaign also sought to remind drivers of the tough legal and personal consequences of a drink drive conviction, which include a loss of licence with an automatic 12 month driving ban and a minimum 20 year criminal record.

Although the festive period is now over, Police vigilance will remain at the same level throughout 2015 and the same consequences apply if motorists chose to drink and drive.

Find out more by visiting www.dontriskit.info or the Road Safety Scotland Facebook page or follow@RoadSafetyScot on Twitter.

Hogmanay was busiest night of year for ambulance service

Edinburgh emergency calls slightly down on last year

Hogmanay was the busiest night of the year for the Scottish Ambulance Service, which dealt with 2,394 calls to its 999 centres across Scotland. Call volumes were 2% lower than last year’s total of 2,443 but the service experienced intense periods of high demand, managing over 250 calls per hour between midnight and 7am.

Additional call handlers, dispatchers and ambulance crews were on duty to deal with the surge in demand across the country, and Cardonald – which covers the West and South West of the country – was the busiest of the three Ambulance Control Centres (ACC). Inverness experienced a 16% increase in call volumes in the north of Scotland.

Between midnight and 7am demand was particularly high across Scotland and during that time ambulance control rooms dealt with 1,829 emergency calls, which was 76% of total demand.

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service said: “As always, Hogmanay was our busiest night of the year and our teams dealt with a high volume of calls across the country. While there were slightly fewer calls overall than last year, the activity at times was intense, with 76% of the workload occurring between midnight and 7am.

“All of the teams in our control rooms and out on the streets demonstrated their professionalism and commitment, doing a fantastic job of delivering care to those in need.”

Totals for each of the three Ambulance Control Centres between 7pm on 31 December and 7am on 1 January were:

(Previous year totals in brackets)

Edinburgh – 971 calls (1019)
Cardonald – 983 calls (1045)
Inverness – 440 calls (379)

Nowhere to hide after park cleanup

West Pilton Park has been cleaned up by a team of unpaid workers as part of the latest strand of the local anti-crime campaign, #StrongerNorth.

#StrongerNorth complements ongoing community safety measures but is a specifically targeted effort to deal with crime and to make the community a safer and more pleasant place to be. Involving police, the council and the local community, the #StrongerNorth initiative was set up in response to an escalation of antisocial behaviour in the area which culminated in the stabbing of a Chinese man last October.

West Pilton Park has now been tidied up by the Community Payback Order team, with overgrown weeds and trees trimmed to make it a more attractive resource for people to use and for them to feel safer while they do so.

Forth Councillor and community safety spokesperson Cammy Day said: “I’m really pleased with the work carried out to the park by the Community Payback team – it shows how simple things like clearing overgrown, unkempt areas can make places feel safer and less intimidating.

“This is a continuation of all the good work being carried out as part of #StrongerNorth and follows the recent community clean-ups, which led to several tonnes of rubbish being removed.

“There is a real sense of community amongst the people living in the area and the goal of #StrongerNorth is to capture that feeling and to take actions like these that deal with the problems people have raised with us.”

Inspector David Happs said: “#StrongerNorth is a key local priority for Police Scotland. We are fully supportive of the work undertaken by the Community Payback Team and we applaud efforts by Edinburgh Council to improve community safety in the Forth area.

“We are also pleased to see this enhancement to the local environment and believe it to be a key part of the Stronger North initiative. By clearing away this undergrowth, it will make the area significantly safer and it will hinder the disposal of stolen vehicles.”

Police offer safe Hogmanay advice

Police in Edinburgh are preparing for one of the busiest nights in the capital’s calendar, Hogmanay.

City police are delighted to be supporting one of Edinburgh’s showcase events and are looking forward to a safe and fun night of spectacular entertainment and celebration on Wednesday night.

Police officers and stewards will be on duty at the ticketed street party and across the city to provide assistance and reassurance.

Chief Superintendent Mark Williams and Sam Bryce from G4S met the media at a briefing in the city centre yesterday and advised revellers:

Get there early – there is plenty of entertainment on offer
Wrap up warm – the weather is expected to be chilly, damp and breezy
Don’t drink too much – anyone who drinks to excess makes themselves more vulnerable
Don’t bring glass, you won’t get into the ticketed area
The event is not suitable for children so leave them with a babysitter
Look after yourself and friends, stick together
Plan your journey home – public transport will be running and if you’ve booked a taxi, make sure you’re ready to be picked up
Enjoy yourself safely – officers and stewards are here to help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVpM0v2tH_U

Holiday season is no party for emergency services

‘drink responsibly, keep safe and do not cause any unnecessary burden for our ambulance crews’ – Health Secretary Shona Robison

With Christmas now over, revellers’ attention turns to the New Year celebrations. Party season is in full swing, but too much drink means this is always a busy time of year for the emergency services.

Last year in the 20 days between 13 December – 1 January the Scottish Ambulance Service dealt with almost 32,000 emergency incidents, an increase of around 4,000 – or an extra 200 calls a day – compared to normal demand.

Ambulance cover has been increased by up to 20% at peak periods to deal with the surge in emergency calls.

As well as fuelling more emergency calls, alcohol is behind most of the assaults and abusive behaviour that ambulance teams have to endure.

The safety of ambulance staff is paramount and any assault or threatening behaviour will be reported to the police. If ambulance crews feel that their safety may be compromised, they are instructed to hold near the scene and wait for support from colleagues or the police, rather than put themselves at risk.

Health Secretary, Shona Robison, said: “Our ambulance crews work incredibly hard to provide the best patient care 365 days a year, and this work does not stop at Christmas. While others are enjoying their nights out over the festive period, the emergency services are continuing to work around the clock to respond to 999 calls through all conditions and weather.

“We all have a duty to ensure we are using our public services responsibly and keeping them free for those who really need them. So, while I hope everyone across Scotland thoroughly enjoys the Christmas and New Year festivities, I’d ask people to take on board the advice of the Scottish Ambulance Service and ensure they drink responsibly, keep safe and don’t cause any unnecessary burden for our ambulance crews.”

Pauline Howie, Chief Executive, Scottish Ambulance Service, said:
“The festive period is the busiest and most challenging time of year for our staff. They deserve recognition and respect for their dedication to serving their communities and dealing with the many alcohol related cases that are a result of people over indulging at parties and in pubs across Scotland.

“As they enjoy festive parties, we would ask people to drink sensibly and wrap up well for the weather. This will help us to ensure that ambulances are dispatched to those people who are in most need of our help.”

The Scottish Ambulance Service responds to the most serious life threatening cases in an average of 6.5 minutes.