John Lewis in court after putting workers lives in danger

By Christine Lavelle

HIGH street retailer John Lewis faces a massive fine after it was revealed they failed to do proper safety checks while refurbishing premises in Edinburgh which led to 15 construction workers potentially being exposed to asbestos.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard today (Mon) that some of the men were told to carry on touching danger areas with their own hands even after the alarm had been raised because no proper tests were done.

If asbestos is disturbed it can release harmful fibres into the air, which may lead to diseases such as cancer, lung scarring and serious respiratory problems.

The effects of the illness may not become apparent until up to 40 years later.

Overlooked artist gets exhibition

By Cara Sulieman

AN OVERLOOKED Scottish artist is getting a rare retrospective of his work starting tomorrow.

John Maclachlan Milne was a contemporary of the Scottish Colourists movement and was highly regarded by collectors of the day.

But he has since been forgotten and only one exhibition of his work has happened since his death.

Starting tomorrow, the collection of paintings from the Dundee-born artist will be held at the Bourne Fine Art gallery in Edinburgh.

Driver sacked and fined for parking warden slap

By Michael MacLeod

A CAR rental driver lost his job for smacking a parking warden’s hat off his head.

Hertz worker Joe McCann, 44, was rearranging cars outside his work garage when warden Darren Sharp, 38, booked two motors sitting on yellow lines.

McCann confronted Sharp, saying the cars were only parked momentarily while he was shifting a few vehicles at once.

But when Sharp went into the Hertz office to speak to a manager, McCann “panicked” and slapped his head from behind, sending his hat flying.

The attack was branded “outrageous” by Sheriff Gail Patrick, who fined McCann £100 and ordered him pay £200 compensation to his victim today (Tuesday).

McCann was due to go to trial over the attack yesterday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court but pled guilty to assault at the last minute.

Drunk postie who refused to strike “abused” by colleagues

By Michael MacLeod

A POSTAL worker who refused to go on strike claims the abuse he got from fellow posties led him to drink driving.

Steven Archibald was caught behind the wheel of a Royal Mail van while twice the drink-drive limit.

A passer-by saw him veer the post van into a traffic cone and phoned the police.

He was searched and police found what were thought to be ecstasy tablets in his pocket.

The 24 year-old blamed stress for his downfall, claiming he had been “ignored and abused” by colleagues for not joining the picket line at the Dalkeith, Midlothian, depot where he worked.

Serving police officer Anna Wong guilty of data crime

By Paul Thornton

A POLICEWOMAN is facing a fine of up to £5,000 after she illegally accessed people’s data using a police computer.

Anna Wong, 26, was suspended by Lothian and Borders Police after they caught her using intelligence databases to look-up people she knew.

SHAMED: Anna Wong

Wong – originally from Hong Kong – used the Scottish Intelligence Database and the Lothian and Borders Operational Support System to obtain personal details of a number of Chinese people living in Scotland.

The officer was suspended after it emerged Wong was accessing the details at the capital’s St Leonards Police Station between March 2006 and June 2007.

Charged

Wong was charged with 54 breaches of the Data Protection Act and later admitted 28 of the charges at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

She insists she did not pass the information on to anyone else but could face a maximum £5,000 fine.

Fiscal depute Beverley Adam said Wong had been at level nine on the scale of access privileges within the force – the lowest rating with access to the information – when she used the databases.

Her solicitor, David O’Hagan, said Wong had begun tapping into the database to look-up outstanding cases against two people she knew. However, Mr O’Hagan said, because of the difficulties in recording Chinese names on the computers, Wong simply entered “Chinese” as a search term and began accessing others in the Chinese community to investigate possible links.