Shooting pub to become supermarket in bid to drop stigma

By Christine Lavelle

A PUB where a former boxing champion was gunned down and killed is to become a supermarket.

In 2006, 31-year-old Alex McKinnon was shot by Jamie Bain at The Marmion in Gracemount, Edinburgh.

Bain then turned the gun on Mr McKinnon’s brother-in-law, James Hendry, who was left badly wounded after the attack.

Since then, the pub has struggled to recover from the stigma attached to the shooting, and owners Punch Taverns have decided to convert it to a supermarket.

Sainsbury’s don’t want their vans in Edinburgh’s jams

OFFROAD: The supermarket blamed Edinburgh's traffic chaos for the decision

By Michael MacLeod

SAINSBURY’S have put the brakes on their home deliveries in Edinburgh – because they don’t want to get stuck in traffic jams during the city’s Festival.

The supermarket giants claim summer-long road closures and diversions will spoil their “high standards” and result in a bad service, although rivals Asda and Tesco will drive on as normal.

The decision has left city some residents baffled, who claimed the areas Sainsbury’s are refusing to deliver to are not affected by the Festival or any annual knock-on congestion.

One Tory councillor even called on locals to ditch Sainsbury’s and shop elsewhere.

Card skimmers had fraud factory

By Paul Thornton

A PAIR of fraudsters were caught using cloned cards to take out over £1,000 from an ATM by an off duty policeman.

Hungarian and Romanian nationals Krisztan Racz, 31, and Horea Dumitru, 22, used laptops, mobile phones, memory cards and fake bank machine fascias to clone several cards before using them to withdraw money from machines.

But their scheme was rumbled when an off duty policeman came across them emptying an ATM in Edinburgh in March.

And when officers raided their home they found a card cloning factory complete with everything needed to make fake debit cards.

Dirty cow comes as udder shock to family

By Cara Sulieman

A SHOCKED mum blasted a musical toy cow which seems to sing the word ‘sex’ as part of its jingle.

It came as an udder shock to Jodie Cairns, 20, when she unwrapped Moosical Beads and it appeared to sing “learning colours and sex, yippee”.

She and her partner Zac Walker, 20, “couldn’t believe their ears” and have now confiscated the interactive toy from their four-month-old baby Ethan.

Printed in the lyrics as the word “shapes”, the pair are certain the cow is singing a naughty phrase to their son.

Ex-PM Brown still the boss, as he sends wife to Tesco

By Cara Sulieman

AFTER his very public departure from high office, it was perhaps of little surprise that Gordon Brown would chose to keep a low profile on what was his first day back as a jobbing MP.

Back in his beloved Fife, at the North Queensferry home where his children no doubt were enthused as to how daddy suddenly had so much free time, the former Prime Minister stayed behind closed doors.

It was his wife Sarah, a rock to him these past few tumultuous days, who was to run the gauntlet of photographers, TV crews and reporters camped at the end of their driveway.

Kitchin helps out army chefs in the kitchen

Tom Kitchin flips sausage to help raise money

By Cara Sulieman

SCOTLAND’S youngest Michelin star chef Tom Kitchin was recruited by hero soldiers from 3 Rifles yesterday – to help cook up a storm in a supermarket to raise money in memory of their fallen colleagues.

Kitchin helped the combat chefs dish up tasty breakfast rolls to customers at Tesco in Colinton, Edinburgh – proving it’s not just an Army that marches on its stomachs.

The battalion want to build a memorial garden at Redford Barracks so that they have somewhere to go to remember the 20 soldiers from their regiment who have so far died in Afghanistan.

And with a constant stream of hungry customers despite yesterday’s miserable weather, they were bang on course to raising the £2,500 target for the day.

English haggis sales bring £8.8million to Scotland

By Michael MacLeod

HAGGIS lovers in England have helped sales of Scotland’s national dish to soared by a fifth, with some suppliers struggling to keep up with demand.

Haggis, neeps and tatties

As Scots around the world prepare to once again celebrate Burns Night in style, new figures show that demand for haggis in England is going through the roof.

English haggis lovers are said to be particularly keen on microwavable haggis, which can be cooked within 60 seconds.

Haggis producers struggling to keep up with demand

Haggis, neeps and tatties

By Cara Sulieman

HAGGIS producers are working round the clock to meet demand for this Burns Night on Monday.

World famous Edinburgh firm Macsween say they have seen a sharp rise in sales of the traditional dish, claiming it has been a record year for both the meat and vegetarian varieties.

Sales have risen 25 per cent, with the most noticeable rise in England.

Meat producers Malcolm Allan have seen a staggering 2000 per cent rise in the sale of the delicacy this year.

They have also secured a contract with Tesco to supply 25,000 haggis to their English stores as more and more people embrace the dish made from meat off-cuts and traditionally wrapped in sheep’s stomach.

Supermarkets compete in festive sales

By Andrea McCallum

A SUPERMARKET sales war is brewing as rival stores battle to come out on top during the festive sales.

The four big players – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s and Asda – are due to report their Christmas sales this week.

But analysts are already singling one giant out as the weakest link – despite impressive figures.

Elderly driver smashes into petrol forecourt

 

By Michael MacLeod

The petrol station where a 70-year-old smashed into the pump after suffering a heart attack

 

A PENSIONER was in critical condition last night after slamming his car into a petrol station.

The 70-year-old is thought to have had a heart attack at the wheel after filling up at a Tesco filling station in Stirling.

His silver BMW saloon lunged into a petrol pump before careering over a newspaper stand and finally stopping just inches from a kiosk door.

Medics were called to help the injured driver while police moved in to inspect the damage at 10.30am yesterday.