edinburgh murders 1980s edinburgh murders 1980s

As the cart trundled through the streets of Edinburghs Old Town, two passing joiners heard frantic banging and screeching coming from inside thecoffin. The film was shown out of competition at the Cannes film festival, but became the festival's one unqualified hit. However, the High Court of Justiciary records include material on Jacobite treason trials, 1748-9 (JC7). XV and XVIII. On 17 January 1985, retired Major David Cunningham, 56, Staff Sergeant Terence Hosker, 39, Royal Army Pay Corps and Private John Thomson, 25, of the Kings Own Scottish Borderers picked up a 19,000 payroll from a Penicuik bank to take to the Glencorse Barracks in Penicuik, Midlothian where all were stationed. Meet the Edinburgh designer to the stars who built his brand out of nothing. You can still see it today by visiting the National Gallery of Scotland. . [4], While on remand for the murders, Walker shared a cell with 18-year-old Andrew Lowden, also on remand. Mark says he read this week's headlines about rising joblessness with a sense of foreboding. An epic crime saga of power, money, violence and corruption. In the 1980s things changed drastically, for a number of reasons. Useful printed works include: We hold the prison records from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and earlier bodies which had responsibility for prisons, including the Prison Commission for Scotland and the Scottish Office Home and Health Department. Welsh is still irritated by the attacks "I look now at all the drugseducation; they're actually using outtakes from Trainspotting!" Graham Ballantine told The Sun in 2016: We have a picture of him. She was such a happy child - a real happy-go-lucky kid. Witchcraft was a criminal offence between 1563 and 1736. Inland Revenue Survey Maps and Field Books, Records of criminal appeals (JC31, JC34 and JC67), Minute books (JC5, JC9, JC11, JC12 and JC13), 'Pitcairn's criminal trials in Scotland, 1498-1624' (Bannatyne Club, 1829-31), 'Selected justiciary cases, 1624-1650' (Stair Society, 1953, 1972 and 1974). Penalty. Trainspotting tells the story of a group of guys in a then run-down part of 1980s Leith, who turn to petty crime and hard drugs to fend off the bleakness of their surroundings. The peaceful Saint Giles and the Edinburgh rioters, The murder of the Covenanters at Rullion Green. Former Edinburgh Hearts and Rangers star banned after being caught drink driving, Black, who played for Hearts and Rangers, was caught over the limit while behind the wheel of a van near Gorebridge last month. We hold many records relating to crime and criminals. "Dundee and Edinburgh were the two main hotspots," says Mark. There werefour different types of court: With the exception of the barony courts, they were abolished in 1747, after which the barony courts quickly declined. They are listed on our catalogue and their location shown. We hold some of these records and others are held locally. This is an edited extract from Jan Bondeson's book Murder Houses of Edinburgh (Troubador Publishing 2020), of which signed copies are available at Edinburgh Books, West Port. An Edinburgh customer who claimed a city centre bar and restaurant had gone from magic to tragic received a blunt response from management - after the guest claimed the staff were very grumpy. Many of these records are out-stored and we require 24 hours' notice before they can be produced. Your first thought is to seek out where they got the heroin from that's how sad it is. Death Festival: An Edinburgh Murder Mystery is my first novel. "You've got psychological scars, physical scars in terms of chronic poor health, and a lot of them are living in poverty and deprivation wrap all that together and it's not exactly rocket science. Edinburgh's most tragic cold case: remembering Ann Ballantine, and her family's search for justice Over 30 years later - and despite the fact her family think they know who her murderer is - no one has ever been brought to justice for the cruel murder of 20-year-old Ann Ballantine, who was found in the Union Canal in 1987. All rights reserved Out About Scotland 2023. "In Scotland we've always gone for the dangerous hit. Two cabinet . Nilson carried out a murderous spree of near-unparalleled savagery during the late. The unpublished Privy Council records from 1692-1708 (PC) are not indexed, and can be consulted at General Register House. More serious cases are heard before a sheriff and jury, and are known as 'solemn' trials; depending on the court, records can be called a number of different things, including: Less serious cases are heard before the sheriff alone, and are called summary trials. Among the many quotable passages in Irvine Welsh's first novel, Trainspotting, one stands out: "Choose life," says Mark 'Rent-boy' Renton. I helped run rehabilitation projects for people with HIV+, and those with mental health issues. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'outaboutscotland_com-banner-1','ezslot_6',687,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-outaboutscotland_com-banner-1-0');There are enough unpleasant episodes in this citys history to fill an entire book, but Ive included just a few of my favourites in this post. c.15 May 1980. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. The court also acts as a court of appeal from criminal proceedings in the sheriff (or inferior) courts. However, because prisoners were shipped from England there is often further information in the Home Office records at The National Archives. Even if someone overdoses, your first thought is not, 'Oh, are they OK?' The Grassmarket was the main location for executions which were carried out between 1660 and 1784 before the location was moved to the west end of the Luckenbooths. Many of the records are un-indexed and wedonot make speculative searches through un-indexed records for enquirers. Administrative records for Scottish prisons (HH12) occasionally contain references to individual prisoners, and there are also a small number of prisoner files (HH15), details of which are found on the catalogue. Some had the virus and they weren't telling people they were sharing the needles. The 70s had ended with massive unemployment, felt particularly keenly in working-class, previously industrial areas, and the 60s' brainwave, peripheral housing schemes which, by the late 70s, writes Aaron Kelly in his monograph on Irvine Welsh, "had already stagnated socially into ghettos". There's more defiance in it "even the most desperate junkies and alcoholics often have this swaggering bonhomie about them" and it's more efficient. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. As an additional warning to other rebels, some of the Covenanter men were subjected to the boot, a torture device that was strapped onto their legs with wooden boards that were tightened so hard that the bones snapped. If she sank and drowned she was confirmed to be pure, although that wouldnt have been much consolation to her grieving family. "I just see another lost generation there may be new substances, cheap alcohol and such but I think we'll see a modern version of the Trainspotting generation. Both Courtney Renwick and Natalie Anderson vanished from the Tranent area on Wednesday night as officers have become increasingly concerned for their welfare. The registers are arranged chronologically by the date of departure of each ship. Photograph: Sportsphoto/Allstar/Cinetext Collection. This difference and thus the rate of current deaths can be ascribed to a peculiarly Scottish cocktail of risks. You can find contact details on thePolice Scotland website. Welsh's scabrous novel is set in Leith, Edinburgh, in the mid-1980s, when heroin use there was just taking off. Four in five of the dead are men, and the greatest increase is among men aged 35 and above, long-term heroin users who have come to be called the Trainspotting generation. The wood was set alight and the unfortunate victim was left to perish in the inferno, unable to escape the overpowering heat and the smell of their own burning flesh. Most people get to see the body or kiss the body if they want to. Andrew Walker (1953/1954 3 September 2021)[1] was a British Army corporal in the Royal Scots who murdered three colleagues in a payroll robbery in the Pentland Hills, south of Edinburgh, in January 1985. This conflict became known as the Pentland Uprising of 1666, and its important because it was the first time the Covenanters were able to bring together a force that could rise against the laws that were imposed on them by King Charles II. Details of proceedings against covenanters also appear in the records of the High Court of Justiciary (JC). If they could sell newly deceased bodies to all the medical universities in the city they could make a quick profit, and with Edinburghs already notoriously high crime rate theyd be able to get away with killing a few people without having to worry about getting caught. When Isobel was eventually told that her daughter's body was found in the canal in February 1987, she could not believe it. Republishing any content, in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited. Cold Case Detective 280K subscribers Subscribe 429K views 3 years ago Lists Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Top5sOffical/. 21 April 2016 . Three brass plates in the pavement mark the location of the gallows used in the hanging. The trials of Jacobites captured after the 1715 and 1745 rebellions took place in England and the records are held by The National Archives. Edinburgh getting Bongo's Bingo this month - with karaoke and crazy prizes, The award-winning Bongos Bingo is coming to Edinburgh for a special afternoon show this month mixing traditional bingo with a chaotic does of fun that's sure to raise a smile, Scotland's teacher strikes suspended as union supports new pay offer. "We never got to see her one last time, which is a killer. ", At The Junction, a local health project in Leith, spokeswoman Sam Anderson says that if the younger generation aren't on heroin, they'll be on something else: "The kids we are dealing with now have aunts, uncles, parents who were part of that generation. As for the users themselves, they say there was little culture, not a scene as such. Please note that the following High Court records are closed to the public for 100 years and cannot be accessed without the permission of the court: The main record of a High Court trial is the bundle of case papers known as the 'process' or 'small papers', (also 'case papers' or 'sitting papers') (JC26). and talking to those who were there at the time it becomes clear that he was only describing what was going on, what he knew, what he still knows, because among the men dying now are boys he met then. Lord Grieve noted "This was a calculated crime. Opiates had been a part of Edinburgh life for centuries: pure opium, the historian Michael Fry has pointed out, arrived in the city in 1693. Drugs counsellor Rowdy Yates says police activity in Edinburgh in the early 1980s was "ruthless". 5 10 15 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 Young: The murders of William Bramlett and young coed Hillary Johnson were committed by Young who was stalking a former girlfriend. She was found just 100 yards from her flat. His army colleagues reported that he was a liar and braggart, and generally unpopular. Recollections and memories of Edinburgh and districts including Granton, Dumbiedykes, Craigmillar and Bonnington. Records of these are normally called 'criminal and quasi-criminal roll books' or 'records of summary trials'. Log in / Join. Some of the more sensational trials are covered in William Roughhead's series of 'Notable Scottish trials'. She had taken her son out for dinner for his birthday. The State Library of Queensland has compiled a database from the British convict transportation registers of 123,000 of the estimated 160,000 convicts transported to Australia during the period 1787 to 1879. "I heard it was an overdose. If you are looking for information about your own conviction bear in mind that the we only receive trial records from sheriff courts once they are more than 25 years old. "By 1983 you had 3.6 million unemployed," says Welsh. 17:20, 3 MAR 2023. "There's nowhere for them to detox now. CRIME: Tracie Andrews dreamed of being a model but became a murderer [CHANNEL 5] From psycho serial killings to acts of passion, there are many reasons they turn to murder. Police forces across the UK took action on illegal streaming providers who have supplied services to over 500,000 customers. At the time Edinburgh was becoming the foremost centre of medicine in Europe, with educated men coming from far and wide to pay large sums of money to receive the medical training that would one day turn them into fully qualified doctors. If you go to a middle-class district in Edinburgh there are cafes and bars, people have money and jobs. mong the many quotable passages in Irvine Welsh's first novel. At the end of his trial, the police officers who brought him to justice spoke of their belief that he may have been responsible for other unsolved murders, including the 1992 murder of Yvonne Fitt, a Bradford prostitute. It's all boarded-up places, maybe a corner shop where you can get milk and rolls, there might a local scheme pub and a bookie nothing else." Crime Scene: If 1930's Edinburgh murder had been fiction you'd think it was too far-fetched. Ill Met by Gaslight: Five Edinburgh Murders ( 1980) The Death of Men ( 1981) One Night in Winter ( 1984) Let the Emperor Speak: A Novel of Caesar Augustus ( 1987) The Hanging Tree ( 1990) These Enchanted Woods ( 1993) The Ragged Lion ( 1994) King David ( 1995) Antony ( 1997) Nero's Heirs ( 1999) Caligula ( 2003) The Thistle and the Rose ( 2005) Telling Private Thomson to drive along a quiet track to a reservoir, he shot Major Cunningham through the head. - Granton Railway 1960s-1980s - Granton Road Station - The Innocent Railway - Last Steam Trains Edinburgh area - Line to Leith North . Eric Gold East End, London Thank you Eric Gold, known to many as Eric McKenzie, East End, London, for sending the following memories of the time he spent in Niddrie in the 1960s. A few days after they went their separate ways, Ann was brutally murdered. Ann wouldnt just vanish without a word. Edinburgh tourists baffled by 'unwelcoming' sign barring customers from pub. Discover the dark and macabre history of Scotlands most atmospheric city in this article which delves into some of the infamous murders and executions in Edinburgh that have passed into folklore, from Maggie Dickson to Burke and Hare. if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'outaboutscotland_com-leader-1','ezslot_2',829,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-outaboutscotland_com-leader-1-0');While many of the condemned in Edinburgh would have their tearful families pull down on their legs to make their agonising death quicker, Maggie had no one to help so she danced the jig for several minutes until her twitching body finally stopped moving. The records are mainly in a separate series (our reference RH11) some of which have been digitised and are available on Virtual Volumes in our search rooms. Serial killer and rapist Angus Sinclair has been jailed for a minimum of 37 years for the murders of two teenagers. This led to a great deal of unrest with the Covenanter faithful which culminated in a battle on the 28th November 1666 when a band of 900 Covenanter rebels formed on Rullion Green in the Pentland Hills to attack over 3,000 British government soldiers. Where did executions take place in Edinburgh? What makes it even more painful, they say, is that they believe they know for certain who killed their daughter: it was a man that was known to the family. In the late 1980s and 1990s I lived in Edinburgh. The Admiralty Court dealt with crimes committed on the high seas or in harbours, including smuggling, piracy and trading with the enemy. "Lots of people were injecting. The Easter Road veteran has struggled with injuries this campaign and after a short return to action, he picked up another knock and will be out for the remainder of the season. "By the end of the 19th century," writes Fry, "Edinburgh produced most of the world's opiate drugs, heroin included." Further trial records are found in the High Court's minute books, which provide summaries of proceedings in court. How easily? There was more supply a sudden influx of cheap heroin from Pakistan, which was welcomed, says Welsh, by the "big pool of heroin users up here". "Two minutes." Contact details for all of the sheriff courts can be found on the Scottish Courts website. Finding records of individual trials depends on the date. They are aware of the worst it has done, so they will tend to use different drugs. 'A list of persons concerned in the Rebellion' (Scottish History Society, 1890); David Dobson, 'Directory of Scots banished to the American plantations' (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1983); 'The prisoners of the '45', edited by B G Seton and J G Arnot (Scottish History Society, 1928-1929). According to Ann's mother, her body was in such an advanced state of decay by the time it was removed that her bodily fluids had started to mingle with the water. In 1993, Tobin was convicted of attacking and raping two 14 year old girls at knifepoint in England. We still have that picture stored away somewhere. Ann was a kind-hearted, dark-haired young woman who spent her time doing volunteer work with disabled and disadvantaged young people at Canongate Youth Project in Edinburgh. As the law at the time had already recorded that Maggies punishment had been carried out, Edinburghs officials had no choice but to set her free with a full pardon. And, it emerged this week, they are dying fast, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Some say that the soundtrack to Danny Boyle's film, together with its humour and attractive lead (Ewan McGregor) gave addiction a gritty, sexy allure. Who knows? [8], Walker was in debt at the time of the murders. This story is arguably the most famous tale of murder in Edinburgh and its been retold countless times in newspaper articles and even had a Holywood movie made about it a few years ago. It consisted of an oak frame which held an iron blade with a lead weight attached and worked in a similar fashion to its French equivalent. News By Jane Hamilton 07:30, 17 MAY 2021 The wheel was a particularly cruel execution method that consisted of a simple wagon wheel with lots of wooden spokes inside it. But James hadn't just wandered off. 15,130 Dundee Courier 645 Broughty . As with all cold cases, there is still the possibility that new information could come to light that might help bring her killer to justice. I know of three or four deaths that wouldn't have happened [if it was still open]." James Hanratty: Abduction, Murder, Rape And Uproar Kim Newell, Raymond Cook and Eric Jones: The Red Mini Murder That Shocked The Sixties Victor Terry: The Worthing Bank Robbery Murder Kenneth Halliwell: A Day In The Death Of Joe Orton Mary Bell: The Newcastle Murders That Shocked The Nation The Krays: The Rise And Fall Of Ronnie And Reggie Kray It's a very negative thing." The generation before that might have been heavy drinkers but in there was work in the shipyards, so they had a reason not to get wasted. 3,694 1950-1959 138 1960-1969 4,198 1980-1989 8,255 1990-1999 Newspaper. This was a signal for the rest of the congregation to rise up against the city councillors and they quickly turned into a frenzied mob. "It's a drug you take to take away pain, to put your life on hold, numb everything. DK Eyewitness Scotland: inspire, plan, discover, experience (Travel Guide), Trespass Unisex Qikpac Packaway Jacket, Flint, XL UK, Guide to the Pentland Hills From Flotterstone to Turnhouse Hill, Ultimate Guide to the Most Haunted Places in Scotland, The Best Places to Visit in Edinburgh Ultimate Visitor Guide. It was at this time that Burke and Hare came up with their devious scheme. The woman took to an online forum for advice after she claims a manager 'laughed in her face' when she questioned the bill. Many believe he was deeply psychologically disturbed. This marked the start of an agonising period for her parents, Isobel and Graham, who had no idea what had happened to their daughter between her disappearance and the discovery of her body. The wood was set alight and the victims were left to die in agony usually with a baying crowd watching the spectacle. The mother of a young woman murdered by an obsessive ex-boyfriend urged other victims of stalking to speak out and not suffer in silence as her daughter's killer was jailed for life. ", The disaffected, heroin-addicted young men immortalised in Irvine Welsh's bestselling novel are now in their 40s. T B Howell, 'A complete collection of state trials' (London, 1816) vols. Or could we? Please see the prison registers research guide for more details. Trainspotting generation? 1982- pleaded guilty to 11 charges of rape and assault on children aged eight to 11 2001- convicted of the 1978 murder of Mary Gallagher, aged 17 After being questioned by detectives the then. "You just want to be left alone to do heroin. It would have been a terrifying and excruciating death for the teenager who was unlucky enough to have simply had an accident with a candle. But they didn't know.". The Justices of the Peace records we hold are not indexed. The number of graves they dug up became such a problem that grieving families had to resort to barricading their loved ones behind iron bars to prevent them from being exhumed. The device was used between 1564 and 1710 and over the course of those 145 years it claimed the lives of 150 people. Knives and black masks found in Idaho murder case. They include criminal trial reports for the period 1705-1830 (AC16). Rising star Rayan Mohammed has admitted he has faced abuse on the pitch as he climbed through the ranks to reach the SPFL. After violently beating the officials inside the cathedral the rioters then spilt out onto the streets of Edinburgh where it became impossible to police them and hundreds of people joined together to tear the citys Old Town apart. The courts had both criminal and civil jurisdiction. As a method of execution it was cruel even for those times, with the victim being hung by their neck almost to the point of death before being cut open from the chest to the belly and having their insides torn out. And they were naive. Crime expert Professor David Wilson recounts the stories of murderer Dr Buck Ruxton in his latest . Mum hits back at restaurant after staff 'laugh in her face' over birthday dinner mishap. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Edinburgh wonderkid striker has to work extra hard to overcome racism in Scottish football. Just walking around the Old Town late at night sends shivers up your back as you explore the meandering closes and wynds that run off The Royal Mile like a spiders web. "Ten years ago it was easy to get cannabis now you can get heroin just as easily." 4) Leonard J. Precognitions are the documents containing the written statements of the witnesses and accused about a crime, and they are put together before a trial to prepare the case against the accused. I realised it was roughly a nine-hour drive with a ferry trip in between. You might not have heard of Saint Giles other than a reference to him when you visit St. Giles Cathedral on Edinburghs Royal Mile, but hes actually the patron saint of the city. It was exacerbated by rave culture "people were taking heroin to come down from the ecstasy," says Willie, a 42-year-old who began injecting heroin when he was a teenager, in about 1985 (he has been on methadone since Christmas) but heroin chic was not a concept that seems to have made many inroads. The gruesome tale revolves around Edinburghs body snatchers in the 19th century, and its a story that still fascinates visitors to this day. Andrew Walker (1953/1954 - 3 September 2021) [1] was a British Army corporal in the Royal Scots who killed three colleagues in a payroll robbery in the Pentland Hills, south of Edinburgh, in January 1985. A small number of prison registers contain photographs of prisoners. In addition to the main series of High Court papers, JC40 contains a number of indictments, summons and verdicts in witchcraft cases , c.1572 -1709. "Culturally, a lot of people prefer depressing drugs like opiates heroin, Temazepam. The reason for this is that using the left hand was believed to be a sign of the devil, so the women rested their left foot on the step for balance while they pumped away with their right hand. When Edinburgh was flooded with heroin in the 1980s leaving the city like 'WWIII' Tom Wood was a young constable in the 1970s and within his beat on the housing estates of Drylaw and Muirhouse in the north side of the city, seismic changes were about to happen. Welsh's scabrous novel is set in Leith, Edinburgh, in the mid-1980s, when heroin use there was just taking off. They can be identified by searching on ourcatalogue under the name of the accused. Detectives went before local magistrates to . You can see evidence of the precautions Edinburgh took to protect the dead at Greyfriars Kirk and Canongate Kirk which became one of Burke and Hares favoured grave-robbing sites and you can still see the security bars on the tombs if you visit them today. You may also find statements by the accused and other papers produced as evidence, but case papers do not include transcripts of trials. They're not able to reveal the identity of the man they think killed Ann due to legal reasons, and a lack of evidence. The previous iteration of drug users were not the. She said goodbye to her daughter as she always did: Ann lived in a flat in Polwarth, and Isobel could have no way of knowing that this would be the last time she saw her child, who was supposed to be spending Christmas with her parents. Today, a single headstone memorializes the fate of the failed uprising at the edge of a small wood on Rullion Green. LRT bus stop 1980 The information board at a Lothian Region Transport (LRT) bus stop in Princes Street Edinburgh, July 1980. Wall killed Nancy and Thomas Shanks, his. Disclosure: Out About Scotland is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Most of the people I know, that's why they take it. Why does he deserve that? I would be happy to see him jailed.. That helped kill a lot of people." It sits permanently in Edinburgh, and travels on circuit throughout Scotland. If she floated she was confirmed as a witch, at which point she would be tied to a stake and burnt alive. By 1877 it was widespread among the middle classes (who could afford it). And supply coincided with unprecedented receptivity. Quite an escalation from one angry woman with a wooden stool. It's true there were those, a few, who took the book and the film too much to heart, and saw glamour where they should have seen despair. Join him as he shares insider tips and personal experiences to help visitors find the best things to do in Scotland. "I remember speaking to a community activist in Muirhouse and she was telling me how people had seen Trainspotting as amanual of how to behave," says Gordon Munro, a Leith city councillor. Murder is the ultimate crime a human being can commit on another human. "You just can't do that. They usually include a copy of the indictment, which sets out the charges against the accused, depositions, confessions and other information on the accused and the crime, together with information about witnesses and jurors. Undoubtedly the best place in Scotland to learn about the juicy and gruesome tales of yesteryear is the city of Edinburgh, a medieval wonder that has survived hundreds of years of plague outbreaks, mob riots, and murders. I'm no longer a dirty junkie.'" The publication 'Registers of the Privy Council' contain names of covenanters and others banished to the North American colonies in the 17th century, in particular the third series, volumes VI-X, 1678-1685. Home Office Crime and Policing Analysis 1st Floor, Peel Building 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DF Published 19 July 2012 Last updated 21 April 2016 + show all updates. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Out About Scotland also participates in affiliate programs with Awin, Get Your Guide, Booking.com, and other sites. It appears that he tortured and killed purely for pleasure and enlisted the aid of several slaves and servants. In a 2008 interview, Isobel told Scotland on Sunday that because the pair were close in age they were more like sisters than mother and daughter.