Two boys charged after vandalism at primary school
Two 13-year-old boys have been charged over vandalism at an East Renfrewshire primary school that was targeted by sectarian graffiti.St Joseph's Primary School in Busby was sprayed with offensive slogans and fires were lit in children's play areas during incidents last month. Police Scotland said the children would be "reported to the relevant authorities".First Minister John Swinney visited the school after the incidents was raised in the Scottish Parliament by Tory MSP Jackson Carlaw.
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STV News
12 minutes ago
- STV News
Swinney to chair youth violence summit after stabbings and classroom violence
John Swinney is set to chair a summit on youth violence as he attempts to clamp down on knife crime among young people. The cross-party meeting follows the deaths of two teenagers in Scotland this year from separate stabbings. It also comes as teachers report rising levels of classroom violence and misogynistic behaviour among pupils. Thursday's summit will hear from the justice and education secretaries, ministers for children and for victims, along with cross-party MSPs, youth workers and those delivering violence reduction in Scotland. It follows discussions led by Mr Swinney to hear young people's and families' experiences and ideas on possible solutions, and will focus on education and community engagement with young people and possible strategies preventing them from turning to anti-social behaviour or carrying a weapon. Angela Constance, the Justice Secretary, has admitted that 'more needs to be done' to clamp down on violence. Earlier this month, the Scottish Government pledged that funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit will rise by 7% to £1.217 million, which reversed earlier plans to cut its budget. Despite several high-profile recent murders among teenagers, Police Scotland said that serious assaults by those aged 11 to 18 fell by 27% between 2019/20 and 2024/25, from 428 to 313. Ahead of the meeting, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton called for greater investment in youth work. Mr Cole-Hamilton, who was a youth worker before becoming an MSP, accused the SNP of presiding over the 'quiet death' of youth work. He said: 'For the best part of 20 years, I was a youth worker, helping some of the most disengaged young people get their lives back on track. 'That experience taught me that no child is inherently bad. Most of the time, they are just in need of some direction, a need that has only been fuelled by the isolating impact of lockdown. 'That's where youth work comes in: it provides young people with the direction they need and gives them a positive adult role model who is neither a teacher nor a parent. 'It teaches teenagers to come out of their comfort zone, helps them rebuild their sense of self-worth and fosters a whole host of key life skills. 'Since the pandemic, however, the SNP have presided over the quiet death of youth work. Budgets have been squeezed, services have struggled to survive, just when we need them the most. 'While acts of violence require a strong response, punishing predominantly law-abiding young people cannot be our broader solution. We need youth work to pre-empt and prevent those acts of violence, to properly engage young people in society and lay the foundations for them to succeed in life.' The Scottish Government has been approached for comment. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Herald Scotland
26 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
SNP failures will discourage anyone who wants to move to Scotland
Why would anyone come here when they will be paying higher taxes if they earn over £30,318? We may need people who will be paid a lower salary but they may be married to a higher earner. Why would anyone come north of the central belt when our infrastructure doesn't lend itself to easy travel to the rest of the country? Imagine how much safer and quicker a dualled A9 and A96 would make it to get to the capital. Why would anyone come here when there is a housing shortage, long NHS waits, falling education standards and a party in power that is more interested in seeking grievance than improving our lives? The best way to make people want to come here is to offer them a great incentive to work and live here. That means doing the hard work to improve our NHS, provide drug rehabilitation facilities, restore our first class education system and stop taxing people more than those in England. Of course the SNP have had 18 years to do that, and failed at every turn. Jane Lax, Aberlour. Read more letters: Hospitality for Hamas Stephen Flynn has promoted hatred of Israel to the core of his programme for Scotland ('Stephen Flynn: Independent Scotland would cut ties with Israel', June 10). Perhaps he would like to invite Hamas leaders for state visits including the finest of whisky and golf hospitality. Tim Cox, Bern 6, Switzerland. More left-wing nonsense Anne Wimberley (letters, June 9) sadly displays the usual failings of the left – and indeed in numerous ways. First, she brands all those with views contrary to her own as 'far right', echoing the hysterical nonsense of much of today's liberal press. She then makes the usual liberal-left generalisation of grouping all migration as one, totally failing to make any distinction between out-of-control illegal immigration and those valued workers arriving through valid, approved and documented routes. Finally, she blindly declares invalid statistics as facts with no regard for the true figures, her exaggerated claim of the NHS being kept running by 40% immigrant staff being utter nonsense. The true figure is around 19% in England, and less than 10% in Scotland. None of those have arrived the UK in large groups of undocumented young men via rubber boats across the English Channel, mobile phones in hand and eager to claim their financial benefits, free accommodation, free education, and free healthcare from a system already under strain and made worse every day by the demands of their illegal presence. Steph Johnson, Glasgow The wealthy won't have to worry Good to see that Westminster's man in Scotland, Ian Murray, does not want public money to be spent on 'millionaire pensioners' ('Scottish Government refuses to rule out changes to pensioners' winter payment', June 10). I trust that no rich MP, peer or peeress of pensioner age will be able to claim heating, travel or other allowances from the public purse in future under Mr Murray's strictures. This Labour Party, however, always favours the rich over the poor, so the wealthy won't have to worry. GR Weir, Ochiltree. How did Reeves justify her sums? There is an obvious question for John Swinney et al to consider in case they are minded to follow Rachel Reeves' Damascene conversion and pay Scottish pensioners a greater winter fuel payment than presently planned, but means-tested on the basis of their annual income ('Chancellor confirms a major U- turn on winter fuel payment', June 10). As I understand it, Ms Reeves has set the qualifying income in England and Wales at £35,000 or below, although she has yet to explain how that means-testing will be achieved, and at what cost. Certainly, qualifying pensioners in Scotland, where it is colder in winter, should receive a payment at least equal to that considered necessary in England and Wales. My difficulty is that I don't know how Ms Reeves justifies the means-testing figure of £35,000. At first sight it appears reasonable but as it is a gross figure, would a net figure not be a more appropriate yardstick as being what a pensioner has left to pay for fuel and everything else? If a net income figure would be too difficult and costly to establish, simply increase the gross figure a little. Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop, Ayrshire. * I NOTE that the age at which people can start to receive state pension is rising again. Presumably this is because it is the older age group which is working and paying tax. Perhaps the government should raise the age at which unemployment benefit starts – eg, 16 to 18, or 16 to 21 – to encourage the parents of younger people to get a job. Elizabeth Hands, Armadale. EU membership for Scotland? Not so fast So John Swinney claims that EU membership could bring an independent Scotland 'security, stability and opportunity.' I, too, regret Brexit, but let us never forget that all those voting for independence in 2014, by voting for Scexit also voted for Brexit – Brussels made this very clear before the referendum. Plus, perhaps unsurprisingly, Swinney ignores that Scotland's excessively high deficit levels – over three times higher than the 3% tolerated by EU fiscal rules – means that, whatever narrative SNP politicians might spin, the EU would reject an application from Scotland, probably for many years, until Holyrood's overspending was brought under control by cutting public services and raising taxes. Martin Redfern, Melrose, Roxburghshire. Sarwar's TV interview Sir Tom Clarke states (letters, June 11) that'As a Labour voter I was very proud' of Anas Sarwar's interview with Martin Geissler. He was entitled to be, of course, but I saw the interview live, and I'm afraid I continue to think it was one of the most horrendous ones I have listened to, because of the arrogant Mr Sarwar treating the occasion as a dictatorial Party Political Broadcast and brooking no interference from the courteous Mr Geissler. I live in the Southside of the City (although the SNP now describes us as East End), and I have to say that my friends, neighbours and acquaintances – of all political persuasions – do not agree with Sir Tom. Oh, the wonder and pleasure to live in a free society – I think! Walter Paul, Glasgow. Destabilising South Africa Donald Trump's false charge of race discrimination by the South African government against white farmers and offering them refuge in the US is an act of hostility against South Africa. Since South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice charging it with genocide the US has ramped up its actions against South Africa. Trump's Presidential Order, 'Addressing the Egregious Actions of South Africa', promoted the re-settlement of Afrikaners in the US and stated that South Africa had taken aggressive positions towards the United States including 'accusing Israel of genocide.' It added: 'The United States cannot support the government of South Africa in its undermining United States foreign policy which poses national security threats to our Nation… and our interests.' It concluded 'the United States shall not provide aid or assistance to South Africa.' It could not be made clearer that if you disagree with US support for Israel's actions then you will be punished. In South Africa's colonial and apartheid past, land distribution was grossly unequal on the basis of race. This remains the case. Whites own 70% of the land while being only 7% of the population. South Africa in addressing this issue passed the Land Expropriation Act. Land can be expropriated without compensation only in strictly defined circumstances. The United States intervention, making false claims about the Act and what is happening to white farmers, whilst offering fast-tracked refuge to Afrikaners is a disruptive interference in the affairs of a sovereign country. The US actions seem designed to destabilise South Africa and stop its support for the Palestinians. South Africa should be applauded for its humanitarian stance in support of the Palestinians and should also be assisted in its journey to overcome 300 years of colonialism and apartheid. Brian Filling, Chair, Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) Scotland, Glasgow.
Edinburgh Live
43 minutes ago
- Edinburgh Live
Mum of tragic Scottish teen 'refused' request to ID son after body found
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info The heartbroken mum of a Scottish teen who went missing in May claims police have 'refused' to let her identify her son's body. Cole Cooper, 19, was missing for five weeks before a body was found by police on June 6. Officers are yet to formally identify the body - with his grieving loved ones saying their attempts to confirm it is the teenager rejected, reports the Daily Record. Mum Wendy Stewart said: "I have been informed a body was found that matched that of my son Cole Cooper. "The police have removed the body from the scene, but regardless of the number of times I have requested to identify my boy, I have been told no. They have carried out a postmortem now and after pleading with them again to see my son and identify him - still no. I cannot express the hurt and anger I am going through." Police confirmed they are still treating Cole's death as unexplained and that inquiries into the case are ongoing. Cole's auntie, Aimee Tennie, said that the family has been given "no answers" and that officers have been tight-lipped over the circumstances of his death. She said: "They have given us nothing. They haven't even confirmed if it is Cole. "When a missing person's body is found, you normally find that they rule it as non-suspicious quite quickly, but several days later they're still saying it's unexplained. It's left a lot of confusion. "They took 24 hours to remove the body from the scene at the weekend and there were a lot of forensic officers. There was still a police presence there until Monday night. "The area is very open and the trees are spaced out. there. It's also near a hotel and a kid's play park and the body was found meters from a path. "While we didn't do any organised searches there, several members of the public have helped us confirm they combed that area until May 18. So, we can not believe he wasn't found for five weeks. "The entire thing makes no sense. But I've asked the police every question you can think of and I've just been told they can't tell me." Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox Cole's mum added: "This is wrong on all levels and I hope no one has to ever go through what we have with regards to the police and their whole system." Police say Cole, from Banknock, was last seen on May 7 on the A803 near Cumbernauld Road in Longcroft, when he asked a school friend for a lift, which he was not given. His family has always cast doubt over the authenticity of the sighting. Prior to that, he was captured on alarming ring doorbell footage on the morning of Sunday, May 4 at around 6am in the Longcroft area. In the clip, he appears to be running from something. He had attended a house party just hours earlier. He later filmed trying to access his father's house, unsuccessfully. Cole's body was discovered just a 15 minutes walk away from his last confirmed sighting. As part of their investigations, cops revisited Cumbernauld Road on Sunday and spoke to more than 150 people. Police are currently reviewing the responses received. Detectives say it is a priority for them to establish Cole's last movements from May 4 and 7. They have appealed to those with CCTV from the wider Banknock area, particularly close to the A803 Kilsyth Road, to come forward. They are asking members of the public to think back to that time and consider if they saw Cole walking in this area. Anyone who has not already spoken to police is urged to do so. Additionally, CCTV footage totalling to over 2,000 is still being examined. Door-to-door inquiries in Longcroft and Banknock are ongoing. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. Chief Inspector Alex Hatrick said: "Cole Cooper's disappearance and the circumstances leading up to it remain unexplained. We remain in regular contact with the family to ensure they are kept up to date with all aspects of the investigation. "We will continue to support them and provide them with updates as our enquiries progress. Extensive enquiries are ongoing to piece together Cole's last movements and find answers for his loved ones. 'Anyone with any information, no matter how small it may seem, is urged to speak to police if they have not already done so." In a public statement made on Monday night, Cole's loved ones said the young man "would have never walked away from his life" as they pledged to fight for answers. They wrote: "As his family, we know who Cole was. "He was deeply loved and would never have walked away from his life. Something happened — and we will not rest until we know what that was. "While we now have him back, the circumstances of his disappearance and death remain unexplained. This case is far from over — and we are determined to uncover the full truth of what happened to Cole." Anyone who has information should contact Police Scotland on 101 quoting incident number 828 of Friday, May 9.
