Answers needed on death after body lay in Edinburgh Council HQ toilets for six days
The pain of losing a loved one is always hard to bear.
But grieving widow Julie Stephen has the added horror of not knowing exactly how her husband Sean died. Today the Daily Record tells the story of Sean's death and the unanswered questions that surround it.
He was on the phone to his wife on Edinburgh's Royal Mile when he said he was feeling unwell and was going to use the toilet in the City Chambers. Julie was then unable to contact him and, frantic with worry, reported him missing to the police.
It was six days later when Sean's decomposing body was, according to Julie, found in a toilet inside the City Chambers.
Now Julie has spoken out to demand answers from Edinburgh City Council and Police Scotland over Sean's death at the council's headquarters.
The information being fed to Julie does not come close to answering her questions. She needs to find closure and, to do that, Julie needs to have the full picture of what happened in this tragic case.
The Record has tried to find the answers but we have received only short statements from the council and police.
At the very least both of these taxpayer-funded organisations need to tell Julie everything they know about Sean's death and the search for him.
It may be that nothing could have been done to save Sean's life if he had been found earlier. But if honest mistakes were made, they should be admitted to and explained.
Julie deserves to hear the truth – and nothing but the truth.
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Clean the mess
The Rolls-Royce factory in East Kilbride was a proud part of Scotland's industrial landscape.
The aerospace giant quit the town for a site closer to Glasgow Airport in 2015. Now 10 years on, a place that once housed some of Scotland's most skilled workers has become a magnet for fly-tipping.
It's an eyesore that those living nearby are rightly fed up with. Part of the former factory hub has since been built on for houses but the remainder has become a blight on the town.
As the site is privately owned, the council says its options to intervene are limited.
It's a sad indictment that a once proud industrial landmark can fall into such a dismal stare of disrepair. Residents don't deserve to be stuck with this rubbish-strewn mess any longer.
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