Top private school teacher faces being struck off for helping students cheat

By Cara Sulieman

A FRENCH teacher who worked at Prince Charles’ former school faces being struck off over allegations that he helped students cheat on an oral exam.

Eric Tessier-Lavigne is alleged to have given 11 pupils at Gordonstoun School in Elgin an unfair advantage by emailing them information about a conversation topic the day before the GCSE French exam took place on May 4 2009.

It is also alleged the emails contained the instruction “destroy after reading”.

Today, the Disciplinary Sub-Committee of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC) heard that Mr Tessier-Lavigne denies the charges and the case was adjourned until April 27 when they will hear evidence.

Swastika at football match causes outrage

By Cara Sulieman

A FAN was cautioned by police for waving a Swastika during a junior football match, it was revealed yesterday.

The man in his mid-20s was clocked by officers at the Emirates Scottish Junior Cup tie between Bathgate Thistle and Bo’ness United at the weekend.

The Bo’ness supporter was then asked to take down the eight foot high flag emblazoned with the Nazi emblem.

It came after complaints of sectarian songs being sung in pubs before the game, and sick chants about Vicky Hamilton’s murder during the match.

Descendent of heroic Scots sea captain honoured with medals

By Alexander Lawrie & Oliver Farrimond

THE SCOTS Captain of the two worst maritime disasters in British naval history has finally been honoured – almost 70 years after the loss of 6,000 brave men.

Captain Rudolph Sharp was in charge of the Clyde-built Cunard liner Lancastria which was attacked by German bombers in June 1940 and was sunk in just 20 minutes.

Sharp survived the attack, but over 4,000 of his men lost their lives that fateful day, and the wartime incident remains the worst loss of life in British maritime history.

Captain Sharp’s three great-grandchildren travelled from Australia to attend the Scottish Parliament yesterday and receive the Lancastrian commemorative medal from MSP Christine Graham.

Shetland-born Sharp, who came from a long line of seafarers, went on to perish while commanding another vessel, the Laconia, off the coast of West Africa in 1942.

The Laconia, a converted ocean liner, was torpedoed by German submarines with the loss of an estimated 1600 victims, and remains Britain’s second worst maritime disaster in history.

The brave Captain, perhaps conscious of the unfounded guilt he felt over the earlier loss of the Lancastria, reportedly ensured the women and children were placed in lifeboats, then walked to his cabin, locked the door and went down with the ship.

Youngest Brit to die in WWII to be given proper resting place

Reginald's comrade Alf Tubb, now 86, aboard the SS North Devon

By Oliver Farrimond

HE was one of hundreds of thousands of young men killed fighting the Nazi menace during the Second World War – perhaps even the youngest.

Slain aged just 15 by German bombers aboard a merchant navy ship, Reginald Earnshaw has lain in an unmarked grave in his adopted hometown of Edinburgh for decades.

But now, thanks to the efforts of one of the men who served with him aboard the SS North Devon, the young sailor who died fighting for his country will finally receive a fitting headstone.

And new research has even shown that he might have lied about his age to join the war effort – making him the youngest British casualty of the Second World War.

86-year-old Alf Tubb served alongside Reginald as a machine gunner, and tried in vain to save his friend when the ship was attacked by German bombers en route to Tyneside on 6 July 1941.

Six sailors died in the attack, but the memory of his young friend drove Alf to chase down details about his life.

Alf, who was only 18 himself while aboard the vessel, said: “He was a cheerful lad, and we used to chat in the saloon of the ship.”

“After we were attacked, my last memory of Reggie is seeing him carried off the vessel when we docked at Immingham – he’d been cooked by boiling steam.

Iconic WWII airplane up for auction

By Alexander Lawrie

AS PART of the many air battles during World War II the iconic Spitfire helped Britain to victory during the momentous war.

And now one lucky air enthusiast will be able to own their very own piece of aeronautical history.

Bonhams Auction House is offering an airworthy Vickers-Supermarine Spitfire for sale at an auction in April – the first sale of its kind in over 20 years.

The distinctive aeroplane has an estimated value of £1.5 million, but the auction house believes it could sell for close to £2 million when it goes on sale at the RAF Museum in London.

Last month Bonhams sold a non-airworthy 1945 Supermarine Spitfire for a record price of £1.1 million, which was considered by many collectors to be a less desirable plane.

The historic warbird has been lovingly and painstakingly restored to airworthiness over the past five years by its late owner, Paul Portelli.

The Spitfire is being offered as a freshly-completed ‘zero-hours’ ground-up restoration to perfect two-seat TR Mark IX specification.

The Spitfire was originally a single-seater Mark IX, but it now offers its new owner the attractive extra accommodation and flexibility of the two-seat trainer variant.

James Knight, Managing Director of Bonhams Collector’s Motoring Department, said: “We are greatly honoured to be entrusted with the sale of such a distinguished and historic aircraft.

“As Bonhams is the last of the great international fine art auction houses to remain under British management, the sale of an aircraft so linked to the history and very survival of our nation has enormous significance for us here.”

Robert Brooks, Chairman of Bonhams, learned to fly in a Tiger Moth plane and is a proud owner of a 1940s Stampe aerobatic biplane.

He said: “The sale of this Spitfire touches me personally as an enthusiastic amateur pilot and a keen student of military history. For Bonhams to be associated with this aircraft gives me particular pleasure, and not a little sincere pride.”

The Supermarine-designed aircraft was built originally by the British Vickers-Armstrong company in 1944.

The magnificent aircraft was then sold to the South African Air Force in 1948 where its operational history remains classified.

The Spitfire was rediscovered in the 1970s rotting away in a Cape Town scrapyard and was rescued by the late building developer and aviation enthusiast Charles Church who initiated a long restoration process.

It was eventually resold it to the late businessman Paul Portelli in June 2002, and he commissioned Classic Aero Engineering to restore the machine to its original TR Mark IX two-seat trainer specification.

As work progressed upon the historic airframe at CAE’s Thruxton facility in Hampshire, the mighty, supercharged V12 Rolls-Royce Merlin 266 engine was overhauled and returned to airworthy standard by specialists and fitted with a four-blade Hoffman propeller.

The Spitfire has since become woven into the fabric of world history as an icon of the age and as an emblem of the defence of democracy itself.