Latest news with #FinlayMacDonald
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Glasgow Times
Piping Live! wraps up with global talent and big crowds
The international piping festival is now in its 22nd year. Finlay MacDonald, artistic director for Piping Live!, said: "There aren't enough words to describe this year's Piping Live!, so I'll start with just one – thank you. "A huge thanks to each person who made it such a successful year – from the hugely talented performers who travelled far and wide to be here, our dedicated organisers and volunteers, our funders and sponsors, and everyone who attended any of our events – we are beyond grateful to everyone for the support." Read more: Five Glasgow roads to close for major cycling event- here's when The festival, which ran for nine days, featured concerts, workshops, and competitions at venues including Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and a newly reimagined outdoor site at the National Piping Centre. Artists such as Beinn Lee, Assynt, Cala, and Malin Lewis headlined the festival's Centre Stage. The final event was held at Saint Luke's, where the Ali Levack Big Band and Falasgair performed for a crowd of 500. Mr Levack, a former participant in the festival's emerging talent programme, said: "Piping Live! is an amazing festival, they are to be commended with how many opportunities they offer to younger musicians. "They have made such a difference to my own experience over the years." This year's Big Band showcase, which opened the festival on August 11, saw more than 200 pipers and drummers march through Glasgow's west end. The event supported Eilidh's Trust, a charity honouring Eilidh Macleod, a young piper who died in the Manchester Arena attack in 2017. Bailie Annette Christie, chair of Glasgow Life, said: "The 22nd edition of Piping Live! has been an outstanding success. "Celebrating traditional and contemporary bagpipes music, this year's dynamic programme demonstrated the great versatility and popularity of the pipes, as well as the fantastic talent and skills of pipers of all ages from near and far." The festival also featured international performers from countries including Ukraine and Australia. Many participants went on to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships at Glasgow Green. Piping Live! will return next year from August 10 to 17.
The Independent
08-05-2025
- The Independent
Skye gunman loses bid to appeal against murder conviction
A man jailed for murdering his brother-in-law and attempting to kill three other people during a shotgun rampage has been refused leave to appeal against his conviction. Finlay MacDonald, 41, carried out the spree of violence on the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland on August 10, 2022. The attacks began that morning when the father-of-four repeatedly stabbed his wife Rowena at their home in Taskarvaig on the island's Sleat peninsula. He then drove to his brother-in-law John MacKinnon's house in the nearby village of Teangue and shot him, leaving him with fatal injuries. A GP who lived nearby attempted to save Mr MacKinnon but he died at the scene. After murdering Mr MacKinnon, MacDonald then drove to the house in Dornie in Wester Ross, on the mainland, where his osteopath John MacKenzie lived with his wife Fay and shot them both. He was jailed for life and ordered to spend a minimum of 28 years behind bars when he was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh in November last year. His lawyers later indicated MacDonald intended to appeal against his conviction. However court officials confirmed on Thursday that MacDonald's appeal against conviction had been refused at second sift – a legal process where judges decide whether an appeal can proceed. Sentencing MacDonald in November, Judge Lady Drummond said his crimes were 'brutal and mindlessly violent' and perpetrated on victims 'in their own homes, where they had no opportunity to escape'.
BBC News
08-05-2025
- BBC News
Skye shooter Finlay MacDonald loses bid to appeal murder conviction
A man jailed for carrying out a series of shootings in the Scottish Highlands has had his appeal against his murder conviction MacDonald, 41, was given at least 28 years in prison for murdering his brother-in-law and attempting to kill his wife and two other people in August repeatedly stabbed his wife Rowena at their home on Skye before driving 17 minutes to another village, where he shot and killed his brother-in-law John marine engineer then drove for another 40 minutes before shooting and injuring Fay MacKenzie and her husband John in their home in Dornie on the Highland mainland. The Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service said MacDonald's appeal was refused at second sift - a legal process where a senior judge or sheriff decides whether or not to grant permission for an appeal to proceed. During his trial last year, father-of-four MacDonald denied all the charges against him and claimed he was suffering from an abnormality of mind at the was found guilty by a jury in November at the High Court in lawyers later indicated his intention to attacks took place over a period of about an hour, starting before 09:00 on Wednesday 10 August first incident was in the MacDonalds' family home in Tarskavaig on the Sleat a row, he stabbed his then went to his sister Lyn Anne MacKinnon's home in nearby Teangue, where he shot her 47-year-old husband John in the kitchen. Back injury He then headed for the home of John MacKenzie - a retired osteopath who MacDonald blamed for making a back injury he arrived, he shot 65-year-old Mrs MacKenzie through a window of the house. He then shot Mr MacKenzie in the back while he tried to protect his couple then tackled MacDonald just as police arrived. One officer struck him with a baton while his colleague used a trial heard that at the time of the attacks, MacDonald was affected by autism and post traumatic stress disorder with depression, anxiety and a personality disorder in the told a consultant forensic psychiatrist that he had difficulties dealing with people and situations and he saw himself as a victim.
