Biker, 31, dies in crash with van near Alness
He added: "Inquiries are ongoing and we are appealing to anyone who witnessed the crash to contact us."
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Morecambe crash: Taxi passenger dies and two drivers arrested
A taxi passenger has died and two drivers have been arrested after an early morning Police said its officers were called to Westgate in Morecambe at about 05:45 BST to reports of a collision between a black Fiat Punto and a white Ford Mondeo rear seat passenger of the taxi, a man aged in his 50s, was pronounced dead in hospital.A 22-year-old man from Morecambe was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol and driving with excess drugs, and causing death whilst disqualified, while another man, 31, also from Morecambe, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. A police spokesperson said the family of the man who died was being supported by specially trained force has appealed for witnesses and anyone with dashcam or CCTV footage to make contact as part of the investigation. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Sturgeon: Covid inquiry appearance drove me to the brink of a breakdown and left me in a 'bad state'
Nicola Sturgeon has revealed she came 'perilously close' to a breakdown last year in the wake of her appearance at the Covid inquiry. The former First Minister also confirmed that that she is 'absolutely' going to divorce her husband Peter Murrell. Ms Sturgeon said she couldn't stop crying for weeks, struggled to leave her bed and was incapable of leaving her house for weeks after sobbing while giving evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry in January 2024. She needed professional counselling for the first time in her life and said she was in 'a bad state', although insisted she did not need to be hospitalised. In further developments following two high-profile media interviews and new extracts of her upcoming memoirs: - The ex-SNP leader said she will not be rushing into new relationships but wouldn't rule out dating a woman. - She admitted for the first time that she might have been wiser to 'take a step back' on her controversial gender reforms rather than to 'dig my heels in'. - She revealed that she is considering leaving Scotland for London, a city she says she has 'always loved'. - After her arrest she hid from media in the north-east coast in what she describes as 'the worst week of her life'. In her upcoming autobiography Frankly, Ms Sturgeon recounts crying during her evidence to the UK Covid-19 inquiry and reveals that in the aftermath she came 'perilously close' to a breakdown as she couldn't stop crying for weeks, struggled to leave her bed and was incapable of leaving the house. She said: 'The inquiry just felt like the straw that broke the camel's back..' Ms Sturgeon had repeatedly broken down in tears as she accounted for her decisions during the January 2024 all-day evidence session at the Covid-19 inquiry, when she said she is 'deeply sorry' to those who lost loved ones and admitted that if she could turn the clock back she would do 'different things' to protect care home residents. In an interview with the Sunday Times magazine, she said she needed professional counselling for the first time in her life in the aftermath of the appearance at the inquiry. She said: 'I'm from the west of Scotland. We don't do things like that! Working-class west of Scotland, Ayrshire, my God, I would never have. And I suppose part of me would have worried that people would have thought, if I did, that I wasn't up to the job.' Asked if she might have gone into hospital when she fell apart if she 'had not been Nicola Sturgeon', she said: 'No, I don't think I was ready to be hospitalised. I'm not sure how it would have been described clinically. I was not suicidal. But I was definitely in a bad state.' She said the therapy she received 'didn't cure everything' but it 'brought back my sense of perspective and equilibrium' and 'just gave me the ability to talk it through'. Earlier this year, Ms Sturgeon announced that she and Mr Murrell, who was arrested and charged as part of the police probe into the SNP's funding and finances, had decided to end their marriage. In the Sunday Times interview, she said that 'I don't think you can just not love somebody' after so long together and confirmed that divorce proceedings have not yet begun, while he still lives in their marital home 'and I come and go'. 'But we are absolutely going to be divorced,' she said. 'Our relationship is over.' In the first extract of her memoirs last Friday, Ms Sturgeon said that she had never considered sexuality, including her own, to be binary. In an interview with ITV News, to be broadcast tonight (MON), she was asked by Julie Etchingham whether we might see her in a relationship with a woman. Ms Sturgeon replied: 'I'm just out of a marriage, so I'm not rushing into a relationship with anyone, anytime soon. I'm enjoying being my own person for a while.' Ms Etchingham said: 'But not ruling it out?' Ms Sturgeon replied: 'I'm not contemplating, sort of anything of that nature. I'm just enjoying life.' In both her interviews, Ms Sturgeon indicated she now accepts she could have changed her approach to her controversial gender reforms, which proposed removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria from those obtaining a gender recognition certificate and lowering the minimum age to 16. She told the Sunday Times: 'As I look back now, I can see that it might have been wiser to take a step back than to dig my heels in.' In the ITV News interview, she said: 'I didn't anticipate as much as I should, or engage as much as I should, on some of the concerns that might then be triggered. 'At the point I knew it was becoming, or felt it becoming, as polarized I should have said, 'Right, okay, let's pause, let's take a step back'. 'I fervently believe that the rights of women and the interests of trans people are not irreconcilable at all. I should have taken a step back and said, 'How do we achieve this?'.' Ms Sturgeon also revealed that when she was released without charges from a police station following her arrest, she lay across the back seat of a friend's car with her hoodie pulled over her head and was taken to a hideaway on the north-east coast - saying it 'would have broken me' if she had been found by the media. Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: 'If Nicola Sturgeon's memoir was simply a chronicle of her achievements as First Minister it would be a short read. 'Unsurprisingly this book does not implore readers to judge Nicola Sturgeon on her record on education. 'Frankly, no one has squandered as much political opportunity as badly as Nicola Sturgeon. 'Remarkably her memory of events seems to be returning, as she appeared to suffer from amnesia when she was before the parliamentary inquiry into the handling of sexual harassment complaints against the former First Minister, Alex Salmond. 'As a result of her dismal lack of delivery in office, Nicola Sturgeon's legacy will be defined instead by political division and personal drama.'
Times
3 hours ago
- Times
Woman who helped to run illegal tobacco factory pays back £1
A woman who set up Scotland's largest illegal tobacco factory to cheat the taxman out of more than £800,000 of duty has had just £1 confiscated by prosecutors. Wiktoria Bejma was being pursued for confiscation of all her assets under proceeds of crime laws which allow money, property or other valuables acquired through criminal activities to be seized by the Crown. However, Bejma's legal team told Livingston sheriff court that she had not profited from her crime and could afford to pay only a nominal £1 to bring proceedings against her to an end. After hearing submissions from Bejma's lawyer and the Crown, Sheriff Chloe Walker approved the deal. Bejma, 29, was one of five Lithuanians arrested when police and HM Revenue & Customs officers raided an industrial unit in West Lothian in January 2022. She was the only member of the gang who remained in Scotland and went to court. She had earlier admitted being involved in processing, manufacturing and packaging tobacco products at a business park in Broxburn between October 20, 2022 and January 13, 2023. By pleading guilty she accepted that she had taken preparatory steps to evade excise duty on counterfeit tobacco products with intent to defraud. The court was told that Bejma was instrumental in starting the sophisticated factory, which was being used to process about four tonnes of tobacco to make cigarettes and rolling tobacco for sale. She arranged transport and accommodation for workers and was involved in marketing the illicit tobacco products. Police acting on a tip-off went to the industrial unit. They saw a man run into another room and slam the door shut. Inside another room they found Bejma and three men 'actively involved in the process of operating highly sophisticated tobacco production and packaging machines'. The factory unit had been fitted with special insulation to mask noise from the machines and smells from tobacco processing. HMRC officers found a mobile phone said to belong to Bejma containing a message stating, 'It starts tomorrow' and others arranging places for the workers to live in Edinburgh. Another message asked: 'When will we get cigarettes to move?' and videos and images showed the machines in operation. Prosecutors estimated that the duty evaded was £815,607.50. Bejma, who had no previous convictions, has since had a baby and moved to England. She said that she became involved only because her business failed as a result of the Covid pandemic and she found herself unable to repay a loan. She claimed that she had visited the premises only twice but conceded that she had played an active role in running the operation. The sheriff told Bejma that she had escaped being jailed because a custodial sentence would have a detrimental effect on her baby. As a direct alternative to prison, she imposed a community payback order comprising 12 months of social work supervision and 300 hours of unpaid work. She told Bejma she would be electronically tagged to remain in her home in England from 8.30pm to 7am for five months. Her co-accused fled the country and European arrest warrants have been issued for them.
