Dog sex man snared after friend finds sick mobile phone video clip

By Paul Thornton

A MAN has had his dog seized after he was caught having sex with the animal in two video clips.

Police and Scottish SPCA officers seized the Staffordshire bull terrier from John Kerr, 30, after two recordings of him performing sex acts with the animal were handed to cops.

A friend of Kerr’s had found the clips on a mobile telephone which had been left at his flat.

After showing the movies to the dog’s previous owner, the friend handed over the phone to police who then charged Kerr with having unnatural connections with an animal.

During the police interview Kerr made full confessions and today (Tuesday) at Edinburgh Sheriff Court he pleaded guilty to having unnatural connections with a dog at a flat in the Capital’s Kirk Street.

He also admitted a charge of acting in a disorderly manner and committing a breach of the peace by allowing the animal to lick his private parts while he performed a sex act on himself.

Alex Salmond wants to give Barack Obama a bottle of whisky

By Rory Reynolds

FIRST Minster Alex Salmond hopes whisky will inspire Barack Obama to change the world.

Cheeky Salmond said he would gift the US president a bottle of Scotland’s finest malt – 42 per-cent proof – to mirror ambitious new world emission reduction targets for 2020.

Salmond, who believes Scotland could have a key role in climate change, said yesterday: “Firstly I’d give him a bottle of our specially blended whisky for the Copenhagen summit – 42 per-cent proof.

“And I will give him the bottle of whisky as an inspiration to show him what can be done.

“And unless the United States can get their targets up, it will be watered-down whisky he gets in the future.”

Edinburgh florist saves planet with re-usable Christmas trees

By Oliver Farrimond

We all know that a dog is for life, not just for Christmas.

And the same now rings true for Christmas trees, after an enterprising Edinburgh florist made living trees available – for rent.

The move should prove a hit with eco-friendly shoppers during the hectic holiday season, as the trees can re-planted after use.

This means that customers at Va Va Bloom florist, in Blackhall, can use the same tree year after year by re-planting in their own gardens.

They also have the option of giving their tree back to the florist, safe in the knowledge it will be carefully tended to at the garden centre in time for next Christmas.

Sea Lions could face axe from Edinburgh Zoo

By Oliver Farrimond

SEA lions at Edinburgh Zoo could be forced to find a new home after council bosses criticised their living conditions.

The sea lions – one of the most popular attractions at the zoo – could be shipped out after an inspection report found that their enclosure fell short of “modern standards”.

The zoo has been told it has three years to improve the enclosure, which houses three Patagonian sea lions from Norway – Sofus, Miranda and Mona.

The inspectors said: “The accommodation and water management for the sea lions must be brought up to modern standards, so as to include facilities for separation, isolation and restraint of the animals, and a high standard of water treatment and hygiene.

“An alternative strategy would be to cease to keep sea lions.

“Either way, this must be resolved within the lifetime of the current licence – i.e. three years.”

White Christmas gets punters in a flurry

A winter wonderland

By Cara Sulieman

WE’RE ALL dreaming of a white Christmas…especially one man from Derbyshire who stands to win a whopping £14,700 if flakes fall in Aberdeen and Glasgow.

And with snow having already fallen in parts of the country this year, there has been a flurry of bets on waking up to a winter wonderland on December 25.

As a result, bookies will have to cough up one million pounds to lucky punters if it snows across the UK.

William Hill let people place bets for a number of UK cities – including Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland.

And just one flake of snow falling in the 24 hours of Christmas Day is all punters need to claim the cash.

Scot who left legacy to places that shared his name a “misunderstanding”

By Cara Sulieman

HE HIT headlines across the world when it was revealed he left his legacy to places across the globe that shared his surname.

But the claims baffled the solicitors of Eric Gordon Douglas – the mysterious Edinburgh philanthropist – as his will doesn’t show any such bequests.

It seems that the heart-warming story of generosity started after one of the beneficiaries misunderstood the terms of their donation.

Douglas Borough Council on the Isle of Man was bequeathed £10,887.73 and somehow thought that they were amoung 20 places around the world named Douglas that had benefited from his will.

The bachelor used to holiday on the Isle of Man and left money to the council, a museum and an old folks home on the island.

Barman played victim for masked pub-raiders

By Paul Thornton

A BAR worker helped two masked robbers fake a hold-up at the pub where he worked after he was offered a cut of the takings.

Colin Hume, 32, sent a workmate home early before the two men burst into Winston’s Public House in Edinburgh.

Hume let the pair push him behind the bar before they made off with over £3,000 worth of takings and fled the scene.

He said they had offered him a one-third cut of the scheme, which was captured on the pub’s security system.

But when cops quizzed Hume about the raid he admitted that he had helped to stage the theft and had got nothing.

Hume was arrested and today (Tuesday) at Edinburgh Sheriff Court he admitted theft by staging a robbery at the Capital’s Kirk Loan bar on May 16 this year.