Inverness man accused of murdering mother and attempting to kill father
A man has appeared in court accused of murdering his mother and attempting to murder his father in a knife attack in Inverness.
Emergency crews were called to the city's Craigton Avenue at about 7.30pm on Sunday following reports of two injured people at a house.
A 55-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman were taken to Raigmore Hospital for treatment of serious injuries.
The woman died on Monday.
Thomas Fraser, 30, was arrested and charged by Police Scotland in connection with the incident.
Fraser appeared before Inverness Sheriff Court on Tuesday, where he was accused of murder as well as assault to severe injury, danger of life and attempted murder.
Fraser, of Inverness, made no plea to the two charges and was remanded in custody.
He is due back in the dock within the next eight days.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Jeffrey Donaldson: Dates set for health review on Lady Donaldson
A court has set two review dates to receive updates on the health of Lady Eleanor is due to stand trial in November with her husband, ex-Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, on historical sex offence Jeffrey, 62, is accused of 18 offences, including one count of Donaldson, 59, faces five charges relating to aiding and abetting. The offences were allegedly committed between 1985 and deny all charges. At Newry Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Paul Ramsey fixed review hearings for the end of this month and in accused is required to trial had originally been scheduled to begin in March, but has been delayed due to Lady Donaldson's ill health.
Telegraph
29 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Miscarriage of justice watchdog ‘incompetent', says new boss
The watchdog that investigates miscarriages of justice is 'incompetent', the organisation's new chairman has said. Dame Vera Baird, a former solicitor general and victims' commissioner, said she would be carrying out a root-and-branch review of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), of which she has been appointed interim chair. The CCRC has been heavily criticised for its role in the scandal of Andrew Malkinson, whose case it failed to refer to the Court of Appeal despite evidence that he had been wrongly convicted of rape. Mr Malkinson was cleared 17 years after being jailed, but could have been freed years earlier if the CCRC had not rejected two applications on cost-benefit grounds. Dame Vera said the CCRC was 'negative' in its approach when it should be 'bold', and had subsequently shown itself to be 'incapable of learning from mistakes'. She told Sky News: 'They don't communicate with applicants, are reluctant to challenge the Court of Appeal, they look for reasons not to refer rather than to refer and are quite often incompetent.' 'I didn't find her impressive' The previous chair, Helen Pitcher, was forced to resign in January, and MPs have expressed deep reservations over Karen Kneller, the current chief executive, saying it was 'no longer tenable' for her to continue in post. Dame Vera, who has also been a police and crime commissioner, said she would be meeting Ms Kneller next week when she starts her post and 'discussing her position'. She was not impressed by Ms Kneller's evidence to the Commons justice committee, which expressed concern that she may have misled it. 'I didn't find her impressive,' said Dame Vera. 'I was really quite concerned about, first of all, the kind of fairly sketchy way in which she even allowed that they got it wrong in Malkinson, and these assertions that she was sorry that people only judged them by the mistakes, and they all took them very seriously, but actually they were otherwise doing a very good job. 'My fear is that the attitude in the case of Malkinson and others, points to there being an attitude that's not positive, that's not mission-driven, that is not go-getter in other cases. So, are they getting it done properly?' 'A complex task' She said there needed to be a complete rethink over how the CCRC operated, including ending its full work-from-home regime where even executives come into the office only 'one or two days every couple of months'. 'They need to be bold, they need to be mission-driven,' said Dame Vera. 'It is in my mind that this policy of 'remote first' must change. Obviously there will be people who have just had a baby who cannot do it but I completely agree that [you need to come into the office] for esprit de corps, team spirit.' In February, the CCRC received an application from Lucy Letby, the former nurse convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, following concerns that a miscarriage of justice may have taken place. Asked whether she thought the CCRC could deal with it, Dame Vera said: 'Remember I'm quite new to it. It will need complexity. It will need a team. It will need the readiness to commission reports, I would guess from what's been said about the lack of scientific value in some of the things that were asserted. 'So it's going to be a very complex task.'
Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Warning after 45 deaths from mystery substance bought online - and at least 40 more have purchased it
A senior coroner has issued a warning following the deaths of 45 people who bought a poisonous substance online. Timothy Brennand said a further 40 people were known to have purchased the chemical 'with a view to having the means to use this method to end their life in circumstances' - and warned online forums were promoting its use. In a series of Prevention of Future Deaths reports concerning a 'cluster' of eight deaths in his region, the Manchester West coroner did not identify the poison except to say it is a food preservative which can be used in meat curing. But he also warned it was also a 'reportable poison as well as a reportable explosives precursor'. The deaths Mr Brennand investigated included that of Kelly Walsh, a 45-year-old businesswoman who was the girlfriend of ex-footballer Andy Woodward, the first victim to waive his anonymity to publicly accuse the late paedophile football coach Barry Bennell of child sexual abuse. Bolton Coroner' Court heard Ms Walsh died after taking a poisonous substance bought online at her home in Atherton, Greater Manchester, in February 2021. The other deaths investigated by the coroner were of Matthew O'Reilly, 18, who died at his student accommodation in Salford in September 2020, Samuel Dickinson, 33, Matthew Price, 37, from Bolton, Chantelle Williams, who died in May 2020 in Salford, Shaun Bass, 23, from Bolton, Andrew Brown, 45, from Wigan and William Armstrong, 24, from Horwich, Bolton. Mr Armstrong died at a local hotel after sourcing the unnamed chemical online from a Russian vendor. The coroner said that reporting restrictions had previously been imposed on the cases due to an 'ongoing criminal investigation in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States of America'. Mr Brennand said a police investigation into one UK-based business found it had supplied 247 customers around the UK and Europe in a 12-month period. Police established that 45 purchasers in the UK and Europe 'were confirmed as only 15 purchases were confirmed to have taken place for legitimate purposes (meat curing etc.)' In all 247 transactions, the coroner said: 'The vendors of the (poison) were not aware of this potential misuse of the substance. 'The small quantities being purchased had been incorrectly evaluated to be an increase in individuals pursuing recreational home-curing/food preservations as a hobby, being an artefact of 'lockdown' living following the COVID national pandemic emergency. 'Vendors were unaware that their website/details were being distributed as part of internet information platforms designed to aid, abet, assist or promote suicide methods. In his reports to Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, and local police, ambulance and mental health officials in the North West, the coroner warned that current Home Office guidance does not 'reference (the poison) as a specific example of concern and focuses on the phenomenon of 'malicious' misuse and not deliberate misuse in the sense of suicide/self-harm.' He said the purchase of small quantities of the poison 'is being presumed to be connected to the many legitimate uses of the than in fact, being evaluated as a member of the public seeking purchase of modest quantities used as their chosen means by which to end life.' The inquest into Ms Kelly's death heard she purchased an unnamed poisonous substance after seeking out advice on an online forum which described itself as a 'safe space'. Mr Brennand warned about the prevalence of such websites that 'promoted information as to how to access' prepare and use poisons that could bring about death. Ms Walsh was found to have ordered the poison 'from an internet-based supplier in Lithuania'. Her actions were 'deliberate and intentional' and she had a declining mental health. The coroner said Mr O'Reilly died from a 'deliberate act of recent self-ingestion'. Mr Dickenson died in March 2020 in Wigan having left a suicide note. An opened sachet bag was found next to him. The coroner redacted the name of the substance it contained, but said it had been sourced the previous month from an online firm licenced to sell such controlled poisons. Mr Bass died in February 2020 having sourced a poison in similar fashion. He had suffered from depression and anxiety. The coroner said tests found that Mr Price had consumed a 'significant and fatally toxic quantity' of the unnamed substance, having sent an email to family members which 'contained unequivocal expressions of the deceased's intention.' Mr Brown, who had a history of mental health conditions, was found dead in August 2023 in circumstances that puzzled investigators as his motive still remains 'unclear'. The coroner said the most likely scenario that led to his death was a 'fleeting, ill-considered, irrational self-harming ideation'. Mr Armstrong, 24, had shown symptoms of a psychotic illness and ingested poison after checking into a hotel. He called 999 to report what happened but it took 89 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, by which time he was dead. Chantelle Williams, who had a 'complex medical history', first ingested a 'significant but non-fatal' dose of the substance in 2019 and checked into Salford Royal Hospital where she received care. Twice she managed to order the poison while still on the Keats Ward at the hospital and ingest the poison, with the second incident killing her in May 2020. The Home Office is required to respond within 56 days of the coroner's report.
