Ex-Glasgow Lord Provost Philip Braat admits stalking ex-partner
A former Lord Provost of Glasgow has admitted stalking his ex-partner.Philip Braat, 49, targeted the woman at a property near Glasgow city centre between July and September 2024.He was elected as Lord Provost in 2020 and served in the role at Glasgow City Council for two years.Braat pleaded guilty to a charge of stalking at Glasgow Sheriff Court and is due to be sentenced next month.
Court papers state Braat refused to accept the end of his relationship with the woman and continued to contact her, despite being asked not to.The ex-convenor of the former Strathclyde Police Authority sent emails, text messages, social media messages and made unwanted phone calls.Braat also made remarks during a phone call, in messages and in emails suggesting that he would harm himself.Further allegations appeared on his charge sheet which were deleted by the Crown.Braat has represented the Anderston/City/Yorkhill ward since 2007 and is understood to have been suspended by Scottish Labour.He was also a member of the Law Society of Scotland, an honorary captain in the Royal Navy Reserves, and a member of the Glasgow Tree Lovers' Society.
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Booze, wood-burners, Sunday roasts... as the list of everyday pleasures targeted by the SNP grows longer, have we EVER been subjected to a more censorious nanny state government?
They've clobbered smokers. Thought – aloud – about criminalising the ownership of cats. Its Fife panjandrums are now leaning on local chippies to slash portion-sizes – in the averred interests of public health: now, SNP surrogates threaten your Sunday roast. The ink had barely dried on the first Scottish Parliament minutes before that first cohort of MSPs had banned fox-hunting and hare-coursing. Passed a whole Act about dog-fouling. Our underemployed, overwaged legislators are still after anyone gasping for a fag - in the latest wheeze, you can now be prosecuted for puffing within fifteen metres of a hospital boundary, even if you are on the other side of the street. Disposable vapes are in their sights too: for years it has been an offence to vape at any Scottish railway station, even on a platform in the open air. No pleasure seems safe from the Nats, from their fatuous efforts to police football chants – indeed, the initial law was so intrusive, and so unworkable, it had to be abandoned. Forget that soothing drink, by the way. 'Minimum pricing,' whacked up again last year, means you're now shelling out more for a litre of sherry than, back in 1999, you had to hand over for a bottle of Famous Grouse. Our English neighbours enjoy cheaper beer than we do. And now the Nats have a real new beef with us. The Scottish Government's Climate Change Committee, wagging a sententious finger, says we should all be eating 30 per cent less red meat. And that farmers – as if they did not have trials enough, with scant profit-margins and over-weening bureaucracy in one of Scotland's loneliest jobs – should rear a third fewer sheep and cattle. Even that shocker has had to jostle for attention with other ridiculous headlines. NHS Fife, for instance, is leaning on the hot takeaway trade to cut the typical portion of, for instance, fish and chips. And the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission suddenly has anglers in its crosshairs. Fishing practices should be reformed, it drones, as fish are 'sentient beings' with 'emotional experiences that matter to them.' It hopes ministers will soon review the law regarding 'actions that occur in the normal course of fishing.' Such a move, panted one newspaper and as if it had just unmasked Lord Lucan, 'could outlaw many aspects of angling such as hooking a fish and removing it from the water.' SAWC does, admittedly, have form. Only in February, it thought about forbidding cat ownership in parts of the country where there was demonstrable predation on birds and small mammals. It would make still more sense to shoot every last bird of prey out of the sky and, if SAWC wants a rough guide, between 1837 and 1840 gamekeepers in forested Invergarry killed 285 common buzzards, 63 goshawks, 27 white-tailed sea eagles, 15 golden eagles and 18 ospreys. Not to mention six gyrfalcons, eleven hobbies, 275 kites, 371 rough-legged buzzards, 462 kes-trels, 78 merlins, 63 hen harriers and seven orange-legged falcons. The First Minister, of less stern stuff, limply assured the public that the SNP administration had no plans to ban pet cats. Last year, too, the Nationalists were even forced to abandon a crazed scheme to ban wood-burning stoves in new-build houses. It feels increasingly as if you cannot take three strides in what one of John Swinney's predecessors once hailed as 'the best small country in the world' without being lectured, harangued, re-proached and disapproved of. Tobacco, sugar, booze, salmon or that jumbo-sausage supper… ministers have their beady little eyes on us. And, no doubt, others have eyes on them too. It is only fair to point out that this culture of censure, rebuke and righteously rapped knuckles long predates the SNP's 2007 ascent to power. From practically the start, the devolved new Scotland rapidly won much wry comment for eat-your-vegetables nanny statism. After the first MSPs had solemnly voted themselves a com-memorative medal. In 2005, for instance, Nora Radcliffe – Liberal Democrat MSP for Gordon, till Alex Salmond toppled her from obscurity into oblivion – called for a ban on the boiling of live lobsters. The Scottish Executive, as it then was, pelted us with posters and raucous TV ads about the horrors of everything from eating too many crisps, through dodgy electric blankets, to the enormity of consigning your Christmas turkey to the fridge before it was completely cold. And, in April 2006 and to widespread trepidation – many journalists hurried up from England, hoping for riots on the streets – Jack McConnell's administration banned smoking in enclosed public spaces. A policy, in fact, first suggested by a Nationalist MSP, Stewart Maxwell. But Scots submitted to it so meekly that one wonders how much it emboldened another First Minister, fourteen years later, to impose all sorts of ridiculous restrictions on our liberties during Covid. At its height, you could not sit down on a park bench, enjoy coffee with a neighbour in your garden or leave your house more than once a day. It was even decreed an offence to venture beyond the bounds of your own local authority. When I in March 2021 had briefly to scamper back to my Hebridean lair, by deserted roads through silent towns, for an armful of Astra-Zeneca, I was so terrified of being stopped and challenged I carried a sort of letter-of-transit from my GP. Meanwhile, our unfortunate children shuffled down school corridors in sweaty masks as – concerned about classroom ventilation – ministers wondered aloud about sawing the bottoms off doors and Nicola Sturgeon tut-tutted that Prince William dared to visit Scotland. Behind this are two dark realities. The first is that, while finally responsible for a host of public services, the Scottish Government (and, by extension, the Scottish Parliament) delivers virtually none of them. Local authorities school most of our children; local health-boards direct primary care and hospitals, and so on. When it finally did have an immediate and grave responsibility, from the dawn of 2021 – vaccinating the elderly and the vulnerable against coronavirus – the Scottish Government made such a laboured fist of things that, quietly and with the deepest tact, Whitehall sent in the army. The second reality is that there is a very old middle-class tradition in Scotland of censuring working-class pleasures. In an era when, for most ordinary people, Sunday was their only day off, clergy insisted on the shuttering of galleries and museums. In a noted Court of Session case – with consequences, generations later, for the Western Isles – it was finally ruled that the good and respectable folk of Burntisland, most conscious of their goodness and respectability, could not ban the Sabbath visits of excursion steamers. In 1875 the Religion and Morals Report for the Free Church General Assembly railed that, to a large extent, 'our farm servants are ignorant, licentious, profane and rude'. What yokels might have thought of Free Church ministers is not recorded. Meanwhile, Presbyterians grew so obsessed with the demon drink that, by the Great War, many congregations celebrated Communion with non-alcoholic wine. And, in 1907, a United Free Church minister assailed a new social phenomenon as 'perfect iniquities of Hell itself,' capped in Glasgow Corporation's 1909 roar about 'the great and increasing evil' it was doing to the city's young men and women. Business ventures 'owned by 'aliens and Roman Catholics,' touting an unnecessary product 'epitomising,' gasped one gentleman, 'the evil of luxury being smuggled into the souls of Glaswegians.' The target of such ire? Italian ice cream cafés. As if not to be outdone, the Free Presbyterian Magazine warned young Highland lasses, seeking urban employment, of the perils of the white-slave trade. They should not, for instance, accept sweets from strangers. Retreating from such past larks to the latest decrees from those with the rule over us, it is striking how few stand up to logical examination. Take the Scottish Climate Committee's clamour for less beef and fewer cows; the reduced bleating of sheep. This is presumably pegged to three core tenets of tree-hugging faith: that reduced upland grazing will in scant decades see the regeneration of much Scottish forest; that cattle-feed is a wildly inefficient use of grain; and that cows, naturally flatulent, are responsible for about 14.5 per cent of global greenhouse gases. The precise figure is, in fact, disputed. But the Committee's lordly loftiness flies in the face of basic realities. For one, about 65 per cent of all the land in Britain can bear nothing but grass. Cows and sheep – hold the front page – eat grass. We cannot. Our cloven-hooved stock will, accordingly, be an essential part of our food economy till the end of time, and the beef industry in particular has for years been working hard to reduce its carbon footprint. For another, much of upland and coastal Scotland is too high – or too exposed to salted winds – to bear significant woodland. Life in somewhere like Lewis or Tiree is, as someone once said with feeling, like living on the deck of an aircraft-carrier. Snow can fall on Ben Nevis in any calendar month of the year. And, even were it otherwise, the Climate Change Committee seems to be blithely unaware of the real menace: deer. The deer population on Britain, as Patrick Galbraith details in his rather good book about Brit-ain's vanishing birds - In Search of One Last Song - is completely out of control: two million beasts on the trot, the highest in a thousand years. The ideal on a well-managed Scottish estate is five deer per square kilometre – on some, numbers are at an unsustainable twenty per kilometre. The depredations of muntjac alone have wiped out the nightingale in many parts of England. Deer threaten the survival, too, of black grouse, ptarmigan and the capercaillie. They are, additionally, responsible for many fatal road-accidents; and there is no more ferocious foe of forest than browsing Bambi. But households remain reluctant to buy and cook venison – and, absurdly, much of the venison for sale in Britain today is imported. In any event, most of us eat less red meat these days, not least because it is so expensive: you will struggle to buy a family-sized pot-roasting cut for less than a tenner. And in the Hebrides, well within living memory, it was a rare treat: fish and potatoes all week, with meat (and the related broth as the first course) on Sundays. There are other environmental realities that seem to have eluded the Climate Change Committee. Without cattle, as the Royal Agricultural Society of England has pointed out, 'there would be no dung, which would vastly reduce the presence of dung beetles in their habitat. 'As well as delivering a myriad of ecosystem benefits, such as sequestering carbon into the soil, dung beetle larvae are a key food source for ground-nesting birds. It is estimated that dung beetles save farmers in the UK £367 million per year…' Then we have that NHS Fife obsession: how big is your fish supper? In fact, fish and chips – cooked properly and well – is a remarkably healthy meal. There is, for instance, no added sugar. It is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins B12 and D, and high-quality protein – and less fat than a typical serving of, say, chicken tikka masala or an oil-slicked Chinese takeaway. 'Typically,' assures one authority, 'fish and chips on average have 9.42 grams of fat per 100 grams, while the average pizza has 11, chicken korma 15.5 and a donner kebab a whopping 16.2…' We come to SWAC's vapourings about angling. One rather doubts such solicitude extends to every creature of the earth. Even the Commission's august personages doubtless prefer life without headlice, tapeworms and rats and most, presumably, vaccinate their children. It remains official NatureScot advice to smash dead any American signal crayfish you meet in our fresh waters and, for over two decades, it has been determinedly exterminating feral mink in the Western Isles. Where SWAC may have a point is the dubious practice of 'catch and release.' My own view is that you should only venture out with the rod for fish you can eat and, having caught your salmon and thumped it on the head, you head for home and the deep freeze, rather than hauling in fish after fish, weighing them, measuring them, taking a few snaps for social media and then returning them to the deep. Not forgetting a protracted chat about emotional experiences that really mattered to them. But, in coarse fishing, catch and release is the whole point: we might, perhaps, command barbless hooks, or even the soluble sort decreed in the pursuit of bluefin tuna. The wild Atlantic salmon may not always be with us; the typical Scottish political animal will add to the gaiety of nations for decades to come. Bossy, virtue-signalling, carefully picking its targets, and unconsciously living what Ronald Reagan once mocked as the prevalent tenets in modern statecraft. If it moves, tax it; if it keeps moving, regulate it – and, if it stops moving, subsidise it.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Police were alerted to champion bagpiper's drunk wrecking spree - by his company car!
A champion piper whose own hi-tech company car alerted police to his drunken wrecking spree has been banned from driving for 16 months. Jonathan Greenlees resigned as a company director and took a £20,000 salary cut after smashing four other cars in 30 minutes. The 51-year-old accountant, who has won world bagpiping titles, was at a company event at Crieff Hydro Hotel when he left colleagues and got in his £45,000 electric car. He caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage to the parked cars he smashed into and has been ordered to carry out 160 hours unpaid community work. Sheriff David Hall said: 'I cannot understand why you ended up driving your vehicle that night, bearing in mind you were staying at the hotel. Why did you drive?' Solicitor Jim Bready, defending, said: 'He has no idea. He doesn't recall driving at all. He took a chance with his vehicle being available and drinking during the meal. 'The consequences were severe for him, but fortunately not as severe as they could have been. This type of conduct is completely out of character. 'He was a company director up until this incident. After this he resigned his post and was effectively demoted to another post in the company. 'He has taken a reduction of £20,000 in his salary as a direct result of this incident. His income is substantially in excess of £60,000.' Perth Sheriff Court heard how Greenlees smashed into four other cars - including the same one twice - while he was more than three times over the limit. It was his company Polestar car which first alerted the police to him crashing while the sound of several loud bangs brought witnesses out into the street. Greenlees admitted driving dangerously and drunk while he was supposed to be staying at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire on 14 April this year. He resigned as Finance Director of Securigroup Ltd the day after his arrest and just six months after taking up the post with the Glasgow-based company. Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson told the court that the dangerous driving lasted for almost 30 minutes and was recorded in full by Greenlees' own dashcam device. She said: 'From around 11pm people in the neighbourhood and roads around Crieff heard a series of collisions and came out into the street to investigate. 'They exited their homes and found the accused sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle, a black Polestar. Police arrived ten minutes later. 'They noticed damage to multiple vehicles and traced the accused within his vehicle and trying to start it. He was asked if he was injured and replied that he wasn't. 'He was asked to exit and it was clear he was dazed, confused and slurring his words. An ambulance attended and they assessed that he was fit for custody. 'He identified himself as the driver. The usual procedures were carried out and the accused provided a lower reading of 70 mics [limit 22 mics]. He was arrested and placed in a locked cell. 'His dashcam footage shows the entire event and lasts for about half an hour. It shows how dangerous the driving is - striking multiple vehicles, stalling and running up onto the kerb.' Mr Bready told the court his client believed he had suffered a reaction to taking medicine and alcohol during the evening and could not remember what happened. He said: 'He can't recall leaving the table, the hotel or even driving the car. He had been taking the medication for two years or longer than that and there has never been any incident where the consumption of alcohol has resulted in anything at all. 'He was going to be staying at the Crieff Hydro. He would not normally risk driving at all, having taken any drink. His colleagues told him how much he had had to drink, and it was four to five glasses of wine.' Greenlees, of Glasgow, admitted driving drunk from Crieff Hydro car park, on the A822 towards Muthill and on various other roads in Crieff on 14 April. He also admitted driving dangerously and colliding with several stationary cars, driving at excessive speed, failing to maintain lane discipline, repeatedly driving on the wrong side and striking the kerb. Greenlees was in the Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band when he was crowned Champion Piper at the National Mod Piping Competition in Oban in 2015. He has won numerous world titles.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Spared jail, architect who stole £160k from sister with dementia to fund holidays and dental work
A greedy businessman embezzled more than £160,000 from his sister and splashed out on holidays and private dental work. David Bell stole the cash from dementia sufferer Janet Mann after he and his wife had been given power of attorney over her affairs. The 67-year-old architect splashed out in exclusive stores, on beauty therapy, dental work and holidays in Cuba and the US. Bell pleaded guilty at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month to embezzling £160,998 while acting in the capacity of power of attorney between April 24, 2012 and January 15, 2020. His wife, Elizabeth Bell, 73, had a not guilty plea accepted. Bell returned to the dock for sentencing yesterday when solicitor Dan Cameron, defending, said his client was in a position to repay the embezzled cash. Sheriff Fergus Thomson told Bell: 'You were in a position of trust in respect of this lady and you embezzled funds. But withstanding what has been said and that you are a first offender and you are willing to repay these funds I am persuaded by a narrow margin there is an alternative to custody here.' Bell was placed on a community payback order and must carry out 225 hours of unpaid work. The sheriff also imposed a compensation order requiring Bell, from Edinburgh, to repay the cash within a year. Prosecutor Eilidh Grant told the court Ms Mann had returned to Scotland after living abroad following the death of her husband in 2011. She was later diagnosed with dementia and Bell and his wife were given 'full control' over her assets and bank accounts. Ms Mann, described as 'a rather wealthy individual with a large number of assets', moved into a care home before later relocating to a nursing home in Edinburgh. The court heard Bell subsequently asked Edinburgh City Council for assistance in paying for his sister's care in 2018. An investigation was conducted by council officials due to 'concerns over the management of her [Ms Mann's] estate'. Ms Grant said the investigation had found the 'spending had not been for her benefit but for the benefit of the accused' and the couple were 'found to be unfit to be power of attorney'. The couple 'surrendered the power of attorney' in December 2019 and the case was then passed on to Police Scotland. The fiscal said one account had seen 'a significant turnover in funds' with £976,151.61 being transferred out and over £1million transferred in' between October 2012 and April 2018. The court heard the probe had found £50,000 had been transferred to Bell's business account and a further £8000 had been paid into another of his accounts. Bell had used a second account to make payments to 'Costco, Arnold Clark, John Lewis, Debenhams, Jenners, for beauty therapy and dental work'. Ms Grant said '£25,000 had been identified for holidays, restaurants and purchases abroad' as well as ATM cash withdrawals in Cuba, USA and Europe.' She added: 'In addition other lump sum payments of over £6000 were paid directly into an account belonging to Mr Bell.' Bell is listed as a director with Fouin and Bell Architects, The Earthy School Project, Hopefield Partnerships Ltd, Fouin and Bell Energy Ltd and Zephyr Wind Energy (UK) Ltd.
