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Edinburgh Reporter
06-05-2025
- Edinburgh Reporter
The world was watching Edinburgh
Former police officer turned crime writer, Lee Cockburn, has revealed the proudest moment of her 24-year career with Police Scotland and before that Lothian and Borders Police. She was the officer appointed to take operational command of the late Queen Elizabeth II's lying at rest at St Giles' Cathedral in September 2022. The 56-year-old, whose fourth novel, Sylph or Satan, has been released by Clink Street Publications, was on leave when details of Her Majesty's final visit to the Scottish capital were revealed. One unexpected phone call later she found herself charged with overseeing the safety of, not just the 33,000 people who queued for hours to file past the late monarchs' coffin, but also members of the Royal Family, including the Queen's children, King Charles,The Princess Royal, Prince Edward who is now The Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Andrew, as they observed a private vigil for their mother during the 24 hour period. The mother of two, recalled: 'After the sad news of her Majesty the Queen's passing, I was rota'd for a weekend off and was a little disappointed I wasn't needed for duties in relation to The Queen's movements and service. Then, as I was walking the dog on Cramond beach with my mum, I received a call asking if I was available to cover Inspector duties at St Giles' for the full duration of The Queen's presence there.' Working from noon to midnight for four-days, Acting Inspector Cockburn would also be responsible for ensuring no harm came to visiting dignitaries and politicians, and found herself on the frontline with her team securing the cathedral and the city's Royal Mile. She said: 'I was so honoured, I would have done it for nothing. I admit I was a little nervous at being given such a responsibility but jumped at the opportunity to play my part in such an historic event, which also allowed me to show my own respect for Her Majesty.' Cockburn quickly found herself briefing her team, reminding them that 'the world was watching Scotland's police officers'. She said they should, 'ensure they offered the best of ourselves' by presenting a well-turned-out professional example. The thriller writer who was given special dispensation to write her first three crime novels – Devil's Demise, Porcelain Flesh of Innocents and Demon's Fire – while still a serving police officer, said: 'On that first day, when I looked up the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Castle as we awaited the funeral procession, the hairs on my neck stood on end as the sheer enormity of the occasion hit me. I was standing to attention in full uniform, with marksmen in position of the roofs above me and my officers lining the route.' She continued: 'As the Queen's funeral cortège passed by St Giles, the crowd fell into complete silence, with my officers facing the oncoming procession all standing to attention. It was a spectacle to see and very emotional. I felt tears come to my eyes and struggled to remain composed. There was such sadness in the air.' Once the cortège had passed the thousands that had gathered began to move off. Later, when the Queen's coffin was brought from Holyrood Palace to St Giles', thousands again queued for hours for an opportunity to pay their final respects to the Monarch. Once more, Cockburn was there, her 6ft 1in frame easily spotted in TV footage as the Royals arrived and left the cathedral. 'I watched over them and made sure my team were ready for any eventuality and that everyone was respectful, calm and safe at all times. It was a very solemn day. I recognised many people in the queue and even shared a hug with my old history teacher. I also tried to keep the spirits up of those that had waited in the cold for hours and made many new acquaintances, the cathedral staff, TV news readers, Lords and Ladies, all gathered in mutual grief.' She added: 'As I sat on the police bus that took us back to base after those four back-shifts, I reflected with pride and sadness of being a part of such a momentous chapter in Scottish history and felt so privileged to have been given the opportunity to do so.' Edinburgh, UK. 12th September 2022. The hearse carrying Queen Elizabeth II arrives at St Giles' Cathedral for the lying at rest. PHOTO Tom Duffin. Lee Cockburn Edinburgh, UK. 12th September 2022. The hearse carrying Queen Elizabeth II arrives at St Giles' Cathedral for the lying at rest. PHOTO Tom Duffin. Like this: Like Related
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
The families devastated by the terrible cruelty of serial killer Peter Tobin
On the day police found a second body behind a house once occupied by a murderer, the father of a missing teenager raised his hand, crossed his fingers and said he hoped it was his daughter. Dinah McNicol was 18 when she vanished in 1991, after hitchhiking home to Essex from a dance music festival in Hampshire. Her father had spoken to countless reporters since then and it just so happened that I was interviewing him when 16 years of tortuous uncertainty were coming to an end. Ian McNicol had been left in such a dark place that he wanted his daughter to be the person in a shallow grave, because it would mean the family would finally know where she was, get her back, and lay her to rest. His words laid bare the terrible cruelty of serial killers and they've haunted me ever since. A new BBC documentary, The Hunt for Peter Tobin, explains how the murder of a young Polish student finally solved the mystery of what had happened to Dinah and a second teenager, 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton, who had gone missing in central Scotland six months earlier. Tobin was a registered sex offender on the run from the authorities when he killed Angelika Kluk and concealed her body beneath the floor of a Glasgow church in September 2006. He was 60 at the time. The crime was so horrific, detectives were convinced he must have killed before. Strathclyde Police launched Operation Anagram, a nationwide scoping exercise which tried to establish whether Tobin could be linked to unsolved cases around the UK. Within months, officers realised he was living in Bathgate when Vicky Hamilton went missing in the West Lothian town in February 1991. Despite a huge inquiry and appeals by her distraught family, 15 years had passed with no trace of Vicky ever being found. The link with Tobin changed everything. Forensic scientists re-examined evidence from the time of her disappearance and found DNA from Tobin's son on Vicky's purse, which had been left near Edinburgh bus station. In June 2007, Lothian and Borders Police searched Tobin's former home in Bathgate. In the attic, they discovered a knife which bore traces of Vicky's DNA. Operation Anagram went on to connect Tobin to Dinah, who'd gone missing at the other end of the country in August 1991. Her cash card had been used in towns across the south-east of England, from Hove to Margate and Ramsgate in Kent. The money draining from Dinah's account was compensation she received after her mother Judy died in a road accident when she was six. The police found evidence linking Tobin to the card and established he was living in Margate when Dinah failed to come home. One of Tobin's neighbours recalled "Scottish Pete" digging a deep hole in his back garden around that time. Essex Police thought they were going to get answers for Ian McNicol and his family when they went to Tobin's old house at 50 Irvine Drive in November 2007 - but instead of Dinah, they found Vicky. Having covered the search in Bathgate, I travelled south to Margate with a sense of disbelief which was shared by the Scottish officers investigating Tobin's past. Everyone in Scotland knew the face of the smiling schoolgirl with the bobbed dark hair. The discovery of her remains so far from home was horrifying and baffling. How had she ended up there? The answer was that Tobin had killed Vicky in Bathgate, dismembered her body, and taken her remains with him when he moved to a new house 470 miles away in the south of England. In the days that followed, as the police continued their search for Dinah at Irvine Drive, I interviewed her dad at his home in Tillingham, a small Essex village built round a Norman church. Ian was an instantly likeable man in his late 60s; a retired musician originally from Glasgow who'd named his daughter after a jazz standard. Over the years, Dinah's disappearance had taken its toll on his health. We sat down and started filming. "When I lost my wife, we knew she was dead because we had to bury her," he said. "We went through the normal process of grief. "When a member of your family goes missing, it's 20 times worse than death because you do not know a thing and all sorts of things go through your imagination." He was taking some solace from the fact that another family in exactly the same situation had been helped, even though his daughter had not been found. Ian turned to the camera to address Vicky's family and said: "If you're watching, from me and my family, good luck to you. We wish you all the best." The doorbell rang. Another reporter told us the police had just announced the discovery of a second body. Ian agreed to continue the interview, raised his right hand with his fingers crossed and said: "If they've said that, please be Dinah, and get us out of this misery. "I would bury her next to her mother. So please, let it be Dinah." Later, after the police confirmed the remains were those of his daughter, Ian said he could die in peace. He passed away in 2014. In the BBC documentary, Vicky's younger sister Lindsay Brown tells of the impact her disappearance had on their mother Jeanette. Two years after Vicky went missing her mother died, her family said, from a broken heart. Archive footage shows Lindsay reading a statement to the media outside the High Court in Dundee in 2008, on the day Tobin was convicted of Vicky's murder, flanked by her older sister Sharon and twin brother Lee. Given all they had been through, what she did that day was as brave as it was difficult to watch. She said: "Vicky was much more than the girl who was abducted and killed by a stranger or a girl on a missing poster. We will always remember Vicky as she lived, not as she died." The detectives investigating Tobin's past were certain he had other victims. They did all they could to find answers for other families, to no avail. Tobin took his secrets to the grave and was serving three life sentences when he died in 2022. No-one came forward to claim his body. His ashes were disposed of at sea. When I was interviewed for the BBC documentary, the producer asked what I had thought when I heard the news. I told him I had been pleased and hoped his death hadn't been pleasant. Should I have been that honest? Did it cross a line? I don't know. What I do know is that I'll never forget Ian McNicol or what he said to me 17 years ago: "Please be Dinah." The horrific crimes of serial killer Peter Tobin Serial killer Peter Tobin dies in hospital, aged 76 CSI Scotland: How forensics caught Peter Tobin
BBC News
03-03-2025
- BBC News
How families were devastated by the cruelty of serial killer Peter Tobin
On the day police found a second body behind a house once occupied by a murderer, the father of a missing teenager raised his hand, crossed his fingers and said he hoped it was his McNicol was 18 when she vanished in 1991, after hitchhiking home to Essex from a dance music festival in father had spoken to countless reporters since then and it just so happened that I was interviewing him when 16 years of tortuous uncertainty were coming to an McNicol had been left in such a dark place that he wanted his daughter to be the person in a shallow grave, because it would mean the family would finally know where she was, get her back, and lay her to words laid bare the terrible cruelty of serial killers and they've haunted me ever since. A new BBC documentary, The Hunt for Peter Tobin, explains how the murder of a young Polish student finally solved the mystery of what had happened to Dinah and a second teenager, 15-year-old Vicky Hamilton, who had gone missing in central Scotland six months was a registered sex offender on the run from the authorities when he killed Angelika Kluk and concealed her body beneath the floor of a Glasgow church in September was 60 at the time. The crime was so horrific, detectives were convinced he must have killed Police launched Operation Anagram, a nationwide scoping exercise which tried to establish whether Tobin could be linked to unsolved cases around the months, officers realised he was living in Bathgate when Vicky Hamilton went missing in the West Lothian town in February 1991. Despite a huge inquiry and appeals by her distraught family, 15 years had passed with no trace of Vicky ever being link with Tobin changed scientists re-examined evidence from the time of her disappearance and found DNA from Tobin's son on Vicky's purse, which had been left near Edinburgh bus June 2007, Lothian and Borders Police searched Tobin's former home in Bathgate. In the attic, they discovered a knife which bore traces of Vicky's Anagram went on to connect Tobin to Dinah, who'd gone missing at the other end of the country in August cash card had been used in towns across the south-east of England, from Hove to Margate and Ramsgate in money draining from Dinah's account was compensation she received after her mother Judy died in a road accident when she was police found evidence linking Tobin to the card and established he was living in Margate when Dinah failed to come home. One of Tobin's neighbours recalled "Scottish Pete" digging a deep hole in his back garden around that Police thought they were going to get answers for Ian McNicol and his family when they went to Tobin's old house at 50 Irvine Drive in November 2007 - but instead of Dinah, they found covered the search in Bathgate, I travelled south to Margate with a sense of disbelief which was shared by the Scottish officers investigating Tobin's in Scotland knew the face of the smiling schoolgirl with the bobbed dark discovery of her remains so far from home was horrifying and baffling. How had she ended up there?The answer was that Tobin had killed Vicky in Bathgate, dismembered her body, and taken her remains with him when he moved to a new house 470 miles away in the south of the days that followed, as the police continued their search for Dinah at Irvine Drive, I interviewed her dad at his home in Tillingham, a small Essex village built round a Norman church. Ian was an instantly likeable man in his late 60s; a retired musician originally from Glasgow who'd named his daughter after a jazz the years, Dinah's disappearance had taken its toll on his health. We sat down and started filming."When I lost my wife, we knew she was dead because we had to bury her," he said. "We went through the normal process of grief."When a member of your family goes missing, it's 20 times worse than death because you do not know a thing and all sorts of things go through your imagination." He was taking some solace from the fact that another family in exactly the same situation had been helped, even though his daughter had not been turned to the camera to address Vicky's family and said: "If you're watching, from me and my family, good luck to you. We wish you all the best."The doorbell rang. Another reporter told us the police had just announced the discovery of a second agreed to continue the interview, raised his right hand with his fingers crossed and said: "If they've said that, please be Dinah, and get us out of this misery. "I would bury her next to her mother. So please, let it be Dinah."Later, after the police confirmed the remains were those of his daughter, Ian said he could die in peace. He passed away in 2014. In the BBC documentary, Vicky's younger sister Lindsay Brown tells of the impact her disappearance had on their mother Jeanette. Two years after Vicky went missing her mother died, her family said, from a broken footage shows Lindsay reading a statement to the media outside the High Court in Dundee in 2008, on the day Tobin was convicted of Vicky's murder, flanked by her older sister Sharon and twin brother all they had been through, what she did that day was as brave as it was difficult to said: "Vicky was much more than the girl who was abducted and killed by a stranger or a girl on a missing poster. We will always remember Vicky as she lived, not as she died." The detectives investigating Tobin's past were certain he had other victims. They did all they could to find answers for other families, to no took his secrets to the grave and was serving three life sentences when he died in came forward to claim his body. His ashes were disposed of at I was interviewed for the BBC documentary, the producer asked what I had thought when I heard the news.I told him I had been pleased and hoped his death hadn't been pleasant. Should I have been that honest? Did it cross a line? I don't I do know is that I'll never forget Ian McNicol or what he said to me 17 years ago: "Please be Dinah."
