Fife councillor guilty of sex offences against teenage girl
Speaking after Graham's conviction, Fife Council leader David Ross said details of the abuse revealed at the trial had been "truly shocking".The Labour councillor added: "This is appalling behaviour by anyone, let alone an elected councillor - and the sentence will reflect the seriousness of this case. "Our sympathies go out to the young person involved."It is impossible to express how badly David Graham has let down his colleagues and the people he was elected to represent."A Labour Party spokesperson said: "The party is taking immediate action to exclude David Graham from membership of the Labour Party following his conviction."Police Scotland Det Insp Graham Watson described Graham as "a manipulative individual who groomed and sexually abused his teenage victim".The officer added: "He was well-known and in a position of power when the offending took place."I would like to thank the female for her assistance in bringing him to justice."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
As the true scale of the involvement of South Yorkshire Police officers in the Rotherham grooming gangs scandal is revealed, one victim - just 14 at the time - tells her horrific story
With its dirty net curtains, black plastic door and stench of stale air, Elizabeth Harper will never forget the flat in which she was held in Rotherham for ten long weeks in 2004. Nor will she forget the steady stream of male strangers who were allowed into the fetid bedroom to systematically rape and abuse her.
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Beast ‘may have spied on eight-year-old boy' before launching sex attack on him at Scots campsite
A BEAST may have spied on a boy of eight at a campsite before launching a sex attack on him as he slept in a tent, cops revealed. And they told how the balding fiend fled into the darkness after the child's 'distress' wakened his dad at the beauty spot on the shores of Loch Ness. 4 4 4 4 A senior officer said the sickening assault in the early hours of Thursday had been 'hugely traumatising' for the lad and his family, who were tourists on holiday in the area. Detective Superintendent Calum Smith told of suspicions the sicko had been watching the kid before pouncing at Loch Ness Bay campsite in Drumnadrochit, Inverness-shire, as the youngster's parents slept in a tent next to him. During a press conference in Inverness, he said: 'Given the nature of this, there is a suspicion there was an element of observation and planning from the culprit in terms of someone who might have been hanging around that area for a time in the run-up to it.' Describing the incident, Det Supt Smith said: 'The distress of the child was overheard by his father. His father came out of his tent and saw the man leaving his son's tent. 'He fled on foot. The person may have been on the campsite or may have come on to the campsite shortly beforehand. 'We have no knowledge of where he went after the campsite. He was last seen walking away into the darkness and wasn't seen again after that.' The suspect is described as white, bald, around 5ft 10ins and aged between 30 and 50. Appealing for help to trace the pervert, DS Smith went on: 'I'd ask people to think back — have they seen anyone acting suspiciously beforehand or immediately afterwards? 'Are they aware of people in the area who wouldn't have been there normally and who may fit the description of the suspect? Or do they have information to tell us about?' He added: 'It is very, very unusual for this to happen in the Highlands. 76-year-old charged with 'child cruelty offences' after eight kids & adult fell sick at summer camp 'The family are visitors to the area on a camping holiday.' The horror attack, between 12.20am and 1am on Thursday, shocked locals in the scenic area, close to Urquhart Castle. There was a significant police presence around the campsite. DSI Smith said a team of around a dozen officers were involved in the investigation. This includes reviewing 'all available' CCTV footage. Detectives and uniformed officers are also quizzing other campers and urged anyone staying in the Drumnadrochit area to come forward. Craig Jones, 40, a bar supervisor at the nearby Loch Ness Inn, said: 'We shut up on Wednesday night at 11pm and I walked home just after that. 'I didn't see anything suspicious or unusual. The police came in the following morning to speak to staff. 'We've not had anyone unusual hanging about here. But you do get a lot of hitchhikers at this time of year.' Blair Mackay, 55, who was in the bar on Wednesday night, added: 'I walked home about 9.30pm and saw nothing. 'Nobody has a clue who this man could be. "I just hope that the poor wee boy is okay' Local councillor David Fraser said the attack had 'shocked' the community in Drumnadrochit. He told BBC Scotland News: 'Words cannot describe the impact this event will have had.'
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Deal or no deal? World leaders walk tightrope in tariff negotiations with Trump
It was grip-and-grin time for Ursula von der Leyen as she sat across from Donald Trump in Scotland last week, with the two announcing a deal for 15% tariffs on European imports that would avert a transatlantic trade war – but came at a stiff price for the 27-country bloc. After committing to a unilateral US raise on tariffs that came on the heels of a Nato commitment to increase defense spending to 5% of national GDPs, von der Leyen then thanked Trump 'for his personal commitment and his leadership to achieve this breakthrough'. 'He is a tough negotiator, but he is also a dealmaker,' she said, as the US president beamed. The EU was one of just a number of parties to strike a deal with Trump before his temporary pause on new tariffs came to an end this week. And like many others, the guiding principle for the EU appeared to be: it can always get worse. 'This is clearly the best deal we could get under very difficult circumstances,' Maroš Šefčovič, the EU trade chief, said. Others had a far bleaker interpretation of the dynamics, as Trump has wielded the threat of sky-high tariffs to cudgel his trading partners into submission. 'It is a dark day when an alliance of free peoples, brought together to affirm their common values and to defend their common interests, resigns itself to submission,' wrote the French prime minister, François Bayrou. Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán put it another way: 'It was Donald Trump eating Ursula von der Leyen for breakfast,' he said on his podcast. Later, he called her a 'featherweight'. World leaders have been forced to adopt a position of appeasement and pragmatism as they've approached the Trump administration, which has swung between imposing staggering tariffs on imports and then announcing last minute pauses and exclusions that suggest there is little rhyme or reason to the White House's tariff strategy. But the key factor for Trump appears to be taking whatever he can get. Countries across Asia exporting to the US were quickest to begin negotiating new trade deals with the White House. Vietnam was desperate to cut a 46% tariff imposed on the country, and Trump early last month announced that he had negotiated a 20% rate with Vietnamese negotiators. Except, it turned out, they believed that they had negotiated an 11% rate, Politico reported. And treasury secretary Scott Bessent this week admitted that he had never seen the deal, which the Vietnamese authorities have never confirmed. Trump reportedly used the trade threats along with other incentives in order to broker a recent peace between Thailand and Cambodia after fighting broke out along the border between the two countries. He soon announced a 19% rate – a significant cut from 49% for Cambodia and 36% for Thailand – which appeared more motivated by international politics than trade considerations. But while many countries in the region will breathe a sigh of relief as they avert sky-high tariffs, some see a new danger in the arbitrary redrawing of the US's trade relationship with the world. 'What we felt during this negotiation is that the US trade environment is fundamentally changing,' South Korean trade minister Yeo Han-koo said shortly after a deal was made to tariff imports at 15%, down from a threatened 25%. The two sides had made a verbally agreement but had not made a formal draft, he said, because the deal had to be struck so quickly. 'I think we are entering a new normal era,' he said. 'So, although we have overcome this crisis, we cannot be relieved, because we do not know when we will face pressure from tariffs or non-tariff measures again.' Leaders who have stood up to Trump are having the hardest time. Among others, Trump has focused his ire on Canada, which he has blamed for the fentanyl crisis in the US, a charge that Canada's prime minister Mark Carney has rejected. Trump on Friday announced that he would raise tariffs on Canada, a top trading partner, to 35%, as tough negotiations between the two sides continued. Carney, who had coined the elections slogan 'Elbows up, Canada' as a signal of defiance against Trump's tariff and annexation threats, said he was 'disappointed'. 'While we will continue to negotiate with the United States on our trading relationship, the Canadian government is laser focused on what we can control: building Canada strong,' Carney said.
