Teenager who beat heroin dies of methadone overdose

By Amanda MacMillan

AN ex-drug addict who helped young heroin users fight addiction has died after taking a single dose of methadone at a friend’s flat.

Linzi McGowan, 19, who worked for Snowsport Scotland, was found dead at a friend’s flat on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after being released from hospital following a methadone overdose.

Having been drug free for a year she was helping other young heroin users fight their addiction when she died.

Her grief stricken Mother Myrna, 50, described her daughter as “full of love, happy and never down in the dumps.”

Police name man found dead on Arthur’s Seat

By Oliver Farrimond

POLICE have identified a man whose body was found on Arthur’s Seat at the weekend.

Andrew Algeo, 45, from the Restalrig area of Edinburgh was found at around 10pm on Sunday by a member of the public.

It took police until 2.30pm the next day to retrieve his body due to its location.

Police investigate M8 death after lorry hits man

By Martin Graham

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a man died while walking on the M8 motorway. 

The 18-year-old was struck by a heavy good vehicle as he walked along the westbound carriageway near to the Harthill service station.

The accident happened at 9.15pm on Sunday.

An ambulance attended but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fife dumper truck flip ends in tragedy despite heroic police bid

By Martin Graham, Christine Lavelle & Amanda MacMillan

A WORKMAN was killed when a dumper truck overturned on the site of a new £86 million bottling factory in Fife today despite valiant attempts by a police officer to revive him.

The officer attempted to administer CPR to the worker after the horror accident at drinks giant Diageo’s plant at Banbeath Road but he was declared dead at the scene at around 12.50pm.

Health and Safety Executive investigators were called in to establish exactly how the accident happened. Early indications suggested it was the driver of the vehicle who was killed.

Funeral of motorcycle crash victim to be held on Friday

By Christine Lavelle

THE funeral of a father-of-two who died in a motorcycle crash in East Lothian is to be held on Friday.

Graham Rowe, 38, from Newtongrange, died in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on Sunday 22 August following a collision between his Suzuki bike and a Volkswagen Golf car three days earlier.

The accident happened shortly after 3.30pm on Wednesday 18 August, at a crossroads near Saltoun Hall in Tranent.

Both drivers and the passenger of the Golf were rushed to hospital, but the other two people involved did not suffer serious injury.

Chinese delivery man beaten to death by teen gang

SHOCK: The family-run shop where Mr San worked

By Amanda Keenan and Christine Lavelle

A MAJOR murder hunt is underway to catch a gang responsible for beating a Chinese delivery driver to death.

Dozens of police officers, forensic teams and hardened detectives flooded the Lochend area of Edinburgh to track down those responsible for the bloody attack on Simon San, 40, around 10pm in Lochend Avenue on Wednesday, just yards from the Loch Inn pub.

Vietnamese Mr San worked for the Yong Hua Garden takeaway which locals claimed had been under siege from youths for months.

According to police he died from brain injuries after being pounced upon by three teenagers from a larger gang of males and females.

There were emotional scenes eariler when Mr San’s sister Shirley arrived at the shop to find the area surrounded by police.

Murder probe after stabbing in Wester Hailes

By Martin Graham

POLICE have launched a murder investigation after a man was stabbed to death in Edinburgh.

The 34 year-old-man, named locally as Martin Hughes, was found at around 3pm on Monday by paramedics outside his home in Wester Hailes Park.

Today neighbours paid tribute to Mr Hughes as an animal lover who owned an Alsatian dog named Chomp.

And a woman who recently sold him a puppy played down rumours Mr Hughes had been killed after a row over payment for the young dog.

Flowers for tragic Dundas Street flat fall victim

By Martin Graham

TWO floral tributes mark the spot where a young Edinburgh woman fell to her death on Sunday morning.

The 31 year-old was at a party in the first floor flat in Dundas Street, close to the capital’s trendy George Street, when she is thought to have slipped.

Shocked neighbours said that prior to the horror plunge they had seen some of the revellers climbing out of a window and sitting on a ledge above the downstairs door.

Paramedics found the woman lying in the basement space below at around 2.30am but were unable to revive her.

Police continued their enquiries today but were working on the basis that her death was a tragic accident.

Police investigate the death of a woman after fall from flat

By Martin Graham

POLICE are investigating the death of a 31-year-old woman after she apparently fell from the window of a flat early on Sunday morning.

Emergency services were called to the flat at 59 Dundas Street in Edinburgh’s New Town at around 2.30am this morning.

The flat at Dundas Street where the woman fell

They found the woman, who has not been named, in the basement at the front of the property, but paramedics were unable to revive her and she was declared dead at the scene.

New insight into dying days of poet Robert Burns unveiled

By Shaun Milne

A NEWLY discovered letter giving a rare insight into the dying days of Scots poet Robert Burns is to go on display in Edinburgh this month.

The letter, from Burns’ superior officer to the Commissioner of Excise, explains how the then very ill writer made a journey to Dumfries to collect and sign for his salary exactly a week before his death on July 21, 1796.

It was uncovered by David Brown, head of collections development at the National Archives of Scotland.

Tomorrow (tues) Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop will visit the National Archives where she will meet staff and view the letter.

The piece will then go on display from Monday August 9 until Friday September 3, as part of the National Archives of Scotland’s “I have not been idle – Roberts Burns’ farewell” exhibition at West Register House in the city’s Charlotte Square.