Police Scotland has issued an update on the search for missing woman Alice Byrne:
‘Extensive enquiries have been carried out as part of our efforts to trace 28-year-old Alice Byrne, including house to house enquiries, CCTV reviews and detailed searches in the local area.
‘Alice was last seen leaving a friend’s flat in Marlborough Street, Edinburgh, on the morning of Saturday, 1 January, 2022, and walking towards the promenade and beach.
‘Our enquiries have subsequently indicated that Alice entered the water alone on the morning she went missing.
‘Efforts to trace her continue and officers are providing support and updates to Alice’s family.’
In a statement released though Police Scotland, shortly after herdisappearance Alice’s family said: “Alice has been missing for one week now and we are shocked and distressed by her disappearance.
“She always keeps in contact with us so we are extremely worried because we have not heard from her. We are desperate to know where she is.
“If Alice sees this, we want her to know how much we miss her. We just want her home safe and well.”
Police are appealing for information following a serious assault in the city centre.
Around 1.20am, on Sunday (6 February, 2022), a 39-year-old man was walking past the Balmoral Hotel in Princes Street when he was approached by man who was part of a group of people waiting at a nearby taxi rank.
An altercation took place which resulted in the 39-year-old sustaining an injury to his face. The victim attended the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and was released following treatment.
The suspect is in his mid-30s, bald and was wearing dark coloured clothing. He ran off over North Bridge towards the High Street following the incident.
Officers are reviewing any relevant CCTV images for any additional information on the incident or the suspect.
Detective Constable Gary Lipscombe from Gayfield CID said: “Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances surrounding this incident. We know the assault was seen by a large number of people who were waiting in a taxi queue and I am asking these people to contact us.
“Your information could important Also, if anyone has any recorded footage from either dash cams or personal devices, please check it as it could provide us with vital details which would assist us in identifying whoever is responsible.”
“Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland through 101, quoting incident number 354 of 6 February, 2022. Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111, where you can give your information anonymously.”
Enquiries are continuing following a housebreaking in Silverknowes on Monday evening (7 February, 2022).
Around 8pm, police received a report of a house in Silverknowes Gardens being broken into. Officers attended and the rear door to the property had been smashed. No-one was within the house at the time and an assessment of what has been taken is under way.
Enquiries carried out so far have revealed that following the break-in the suspect(s) got into a beige or gold coloured Nissan Note car. The registration of the car is GF60 XZH but it is possible the registration plate has been changed.
The Nissan Note was stolen from the Davidson Mains area last month and officers are appealing to anyone who may have seen it to contact them.
Door-to-door enquiries are being carried out and officers are gathering and reviewing relevant CCTV footage for any further information on the suspect(s) and the Nissan Note.
Detective Sergeant Steven Dick said: “It appears the Nissan Note is being used by the suspect(s) to leave the scene and transport any stolen items.
“We should all feel protected in our homes, and know that our personal items and objects are safe from thieves. I am asking for the public’s help in trying to locate this vehicle. If anyone has seen it or noticed it parked up somewhere then please do get in touch with us.
“Your information could help us trace whoever is responsible and allow us to return any stolen items to their rightful owners.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 3026 of 7 February, 2022. Alternatively, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where you can give information anonymously.
Following complaints from residents and businesses in the Hawes Promenade area, local community officers and officers from Road Policing have been targeting the area to combat the antisocial use of vehicles and associated behaviour.
Sergeant Sandra Watt from the Community Policing Team at Corstorphine Police Station said: “Dealing with disorder and antisocial behaviour is a priority for us in Edinburgh. We’ve been made aware by the local community of antisocial behaviour issues in the Hawes Promenade area involving vehicles, and we’ve responded with a dedicated initiative.
“We are focussing on engagement, deterrence, disruption and where necessary enforcement by conducting both high visibility and plain clothe patrols in marked and unmarked vehicles. During the weekend of 29th and 30th January we engaged with over 50 drivers and issued an antisocial behaviour warning.
“On Friday 4th February 2022, our Road Policing colleagues implemented a road check at the Hawkes Pier car park. Twenty two cars were stopped, checked for defects and advice was given to drivers with regards to driving and parking in a considerate manner. One driver was charged with careless driving.
“Our Community Policing Teams will continue to work with our Road Policing colleagues and our partners at the City of Edinburgh Council to deal with the antisocial use of vehicles in the area”
Anyone with information regarding criminal or antisocial behaviour in their area can contact Police Scotland through 101, our website scotland.police.uk/contact-us or the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Following an increase in antisocial behaviour in the Ferry Road and Telford areas, Operation PAX was instigated – deploying dedicated teams of police officers at key times focussing on engagement, deterrence, disruption and where necessary enforcement.
As a result of recent investigations and working closely with partner agencies at #StrongerNorth an 18-year-old man has been charged with 22 offences and a 15-year-old boy charged with 25 offences relating to antisocial behaviour in the local area.
Police ask that parents and carers speak with their children and young people about the impact of antisocial behaviour to ensure our local community continues to be a safe place to live and work.
Support from members of the public is also vital in helping Police quickly identify those engaging in this behaviour they urge anyone who witnesses an incident to contact them immediately.
Anyone with information regarding antisocial behaviour in their area can contact Police Scotland through 101, the website scotland.police.uk/contact-us or the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Police officers investigating a robbery at a shop in the Tollcross area have arrested and charged two men.
At around 10.45pm on Thursday, 6 January 2022, a 24-year-old man was walking on Spey Street when he was approached and taken back to the store where he worked on Leven Street. A four-figure sum of cash was then take from the store.
Two men, aged 26 and 28, have been arrested and charged in connection with the incident.
They are both due to appear in Edinburgh Sheriff Court today (Thursday, 3 February, 2022). A report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.
Detective Inspector Kevin Tait from Edinburgh Division CID, said: “We would like to thank the public for their assistance following our appeal.”
Scottish Environment Protection Agency staff and their work tackling waste crime will be featured as part of investigative journalism programme BBC Disclosure tonight (Monday 31 January) at 7pm.
The programme titled ‘Dirty Business’ will delve into criminal waste activities – ranging from ‘man with a van’ flytipping and waste being burnt in a drum to large scale illegal activities with links to serious organised crime such as abandoned lorry trailers bursting with up to 41 tonnes of waste and illegal landfills.
The documentary sees BBC presenter Sam Poling shadowing staff on complex investigations including a site visit to an unidentified location, where a criminal gang has buried large amounts of waste underground resulting in environmental impact from the release of harmful gases and liquids as the illegal deposit degrades.
Sam also accompanies SEPA staff to a non-compliant site and on a site visit to a legitimate waste operator to see how businesses should be operating to stay within the law and discovers how criminals undercutting these types of businesses can impact on the industry.
Waste crime has a serious and detrimental impact on the environment, communities and compliant businesses, costing Scottish taxpayers tens of millions a year in clean-up costs, avoided tax and lost revenue.
Dedicated enforcement
As part of its ongoing commitment to tackle environmental crime and as an environment protection agency ready to tackle the challenges of the 21st Century, SEPA launched a dedicated intelligence and enforcement function in October 2019 to deal with those types of growing activities.
SEPA’S investigative waste enforcement work includes the monitoring of over 234 active cases including 31 high priority sites, some linked to serious and organised crime activities.
We work closely with partners such as Police Scotland, the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, Serious Organised Crime Task Force and cross border agencies to share information and work together to use powers that partners have to tackle this behaviour, using the latest technologies to help ensure we detect criminal activity and have the most accurate picture possible.
Working together in this way means that we can make it harder for criminals to get a foot in legitimate waste businesses, and where these sites have appeared it will become easier to require those responsible to clean them up.
Waste crime stifles legitimate businesses’ opportunities to innovate and improve our environment and there is a need to continue attracting the right businesses to Scotland that will contribute to our economic growth while protecting and enhancing our environment.
Members of the public and businesses must start thinking of ways to do things differently to limit opportunities for criminals to operate and gain a greater awareness of what happens to their waste.
SEPA works with businesses to help them achieve compliance and understand their obligations and Digital Waste Tracking is one of the innovations which could help make compliance easier and help individuals and businesses to track what happens to their waste.
Jennifer Shearer, Head of Enforcement at SEPA, said: “We are warning criminals – your activities are firmly in the spotlight and compliance with Scotland’s environmental laws is non-negotiable. Our dedicated enforcement unit is focussing our efforts on tackling the most serious non-compliance and illegal activity.
“Waste crime is best tackled on a preventative level and this involves a ‘Team Scotland’ partner led approach. By taking part in this programme we aim to highlight the extensive work that SEPA does and make everyone aware of duties they have in assisting in the disruption of these types of activity.
“For us deterring waste crime will take more than issuing fines and taking prosecutions where possible. It requires Scotland to realise the potential in developing vacant and derelict land for better use, engage in multi-agency partnerships and nurture urban and rural communities.
“In Scotland, businesses committed to doing the right thing by our environment will find a regulator that supports innovation and excellence. For those who do the wrong thing they’ll find a regulator that won’t hesitate to act. It is vital that businesses and individuals realise their duty of care, as the best way to stop waste criminals is to cut off their routes to make money.
“Criminals are resourceful, inventive and will find new ways to break the law – especially when money is involved, but Scotland’s enforcement agencies are working together to make sure we find them and stop them.”
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Keith Brown said: “The Scottish Government and partners on the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce are fully committed to disrupting those who see waste disposal as a money-making enterprise that sits alongside other crime types such as violence, drugs, weapons and money laundering.
“These criminals will do anything to increase their wealth through undermining legitimate waste businesses and tricking unsuspecting customers. Partners on the taskforce will use every means at their disposal to ensure these illegal practices stop and that those who dump waste illegally are held accountable.”
Phil Davies, Joint Unit for Waste Crime Manager, said: “The Joint Unit for Waste Crime works to disrupt serious and organised waste crime to reduce the impact on the economy, the environment and local communities.
“Our strength lies in bringing together agencies from across the UK, including the Environment Agency; Natural Resources Wales; the Scottish Environment Protection Agency; the Northern Ireland EA; the police; HMRC; the National Fire Chiefs Council; the British Transport Police and the National Crime Agency.
“Working together as the Joint Unit, we share intelligence and enforcement to more quickly identify, disrupt and deter criminals and make them pay for the damage they inflict on communities and the environment.”
Executive Director of the Environmental Services Association, Jacob Hayler, said: “Waste crime threatens the natural environment, costs the public purse millions of pounds a year and severely undermines investment in responsible, legitimate, recycling and waste treatment operations.
“The Environmental Services Association is highly supportive of robust enforcement action, greater deterrents and tougher penalties on these criminals, who unfortunately all too often view our sector as a soft target.”
Allan MacGregor a member of the Resource Management Association Scotland (RMAS) Management Committee and Chief Executive of the Binn Group, said: “Unscrupulous operators undermine legitimate businesses, stifle investment, and create an uneven playing field.
“We therefore fully support any efforts to crack down on illegal waste dumping activities and stop waste criminals from operating within our industry.”
How you can help
Everyone can help tackle waste crime by refusing to engage waste service providers who are not licenced by, or registered with SEPA, and by checking that the person offering to pick up their waste is a registered waste carrier. You should ask for evidence of this and then ask where they will dispose of the waste and ensure this is a legitimate licensed site. Failing to make these checks is illegal.
Services that sound too good to be true often are – and could lead to waste being illegally fly-tipped or disposed of by other illegitimate means. For criminals carrying out these activities, illegal waste disposal and fly tipping is a serious offence with significant consequences and those caught risk a criminal conviction and a fine and/or imprisonment. SEPA can also issue Variable Monetary Penalties of up to £40,000 as an enforcement tool.
Everyone can assist by being vigilant and reporting any suspicious activity such as:
Trailers left by the roadside or in isolated areas
Increased activity at previously unused sites
Movements of vehicles late at night or very early in the morning
Unusual odours or increased fly activity
SEPA also advises that landowners must be alert to the risk of their land or premises being used for illegal waste deposits and trailer or vehicle owners should also be aware of the risk of theft for use in illegal waste disposal activities.
Members of the public can report suspicious sites and behaviours to SEPA 24 hours a day, seven days a week through our pollution hotline online, sepa.org.uk/report, or call 0800 80 70 60.
Police Scotland is urging the public to remain vigilant for an ongoing fraudulent banking scam involving people impersonating police officers.
Between October 2021 and January 2022, over 30 reports have been received from members of the public, who have either been visited or contacted by individuals claiming to be Police Scotland officers.
On each occasion, the victim was contacted by telephone from someone claiming to be from a bank fraud department and advised that their bank account had been compromised. They were then requested to either transfer money remotely to another account online or attend at a bank and remove cash, which would later be collected by a police officer.
While not every attempt to extort money was successful, those responsible defrauded a number of victims across Forth Valley, Fife, Lanarkshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Tayside, Ayrshire and the Scottish Borders.
More than £300,000 has been defrauded from victims and inquiries to identify those responsible are ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to come forward.
In the meantime, police are offering advice to stop people falling victim to this scam and will be leafleting across Scotland to help educate communities on how police will engage with the public in person, over the phone and online.
Superintendent Hilary Sloan from Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing Division said: “While there are a number of ways police officers may look to contact you, please be mindful of this scam and always be suspicious of any unexpected contact.
“If you receive such a call, or visit, ask for the officer’s details and which department they work for. If the contact is by telephone, hang up and if possible use a different phone to contact the police service via 101, where you will speak to genuine members of Police Scotland and can request police officer verification.
“We began a national roll-out of new identification cards, which feature an up-to-date picture of the officer, along with other key information and various security enhancements that make them extremely difficult to replicate. This roll-out was started in October 2021 and all police officers should be able to provide this identification when carrying out legitimate police business.
“If you receive an email claiming to be from Police Scotland with a link to an external site to make a payment, this may also be fraudulent. Be aware of phishing scams and verify that any link provided is genuine. If you receive something claiming to be from us requesting any form of payment, contact us via 101 to investigate this matter before parting with your money.
“We are treating this ongoing scam with the utmost seriousness and have officers around the country pursuing various lines of inquiry.”
Those with information can contact Police Scotland via 101. Alternatively, an anonymous report can be made to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
