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Police Scotland is appealing for information for help trace 54-year-old Graham Johnston missing from Bo’ness
Graham was last seen around 3.30pm on Monday
Inspector Martin Morris said: “We are growing increasingly concerned for the welfare of Graham and would ask that anyone who sees him to let us know
“Anyone with any information if asked to contact Police Scotland on 101
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Hearts B were defeated 4-3 by Bo’ness United at Newtown Park on Saturday afternoon
Angus Beith made three changes from the home defeat against Strollers last Friday night
Henry James came in to replace on-loan Ethan Drysdale
Dominic Plank replaced Bobby McLuckie on the wing
and Alfie Osborne replaced Ryan Duncan in midfield
Bo’ness started the game on the front foot and looked threatening in attack
The home side had a good chance to go ahead on six minutes
Gregor Crookston and Alfie Obsborne collided in the middle of the park
which allowed striker Smart Osadalor to go through on goal
Owen Muirhead sprinted back and cleared it away brilliantly from danger for the Jambos
Hearts had their first chance of the afternoon shortly after
Matty Gillies was played in on the left wing
He hit a low shot which was saved comfortably by Liam Campbell in goal
Bo’ness nearly went ahead following a good cut back from the left wing by Kieran Mitchell which found Louis Kennedy
but he failed to convert from a few yards out with a great low save from Hearts goalkeeper Jack Lyon
Owen Muirhead was unfortunately forced off after only 15 minutes after he pulled up with a hamstring injury
The B.U.'s made their pressure count on 25 minutes
Irving played a through ball out to the right wing to Kieran Mitchell
who drove into the box and struck low into the bottom left corner for 1-0
Following some neat passing in the build-up
Matty Gillies played it in behind the Bo’ness backline to find Aiden Haddow in the box
who buried his shot low into the bottom right corner on his left foot for 1-1
Bo’ness thought they had regained their lead as Louis Kennedy had the ball in the net
but referee Jordan Curran blew his whistle for offside
Kennedy whipped the ball in from a free kick at the edge of the area
It missed everyone and looped into the top right corner for 2-1
Bo’ness doubled their advantage just before the break
The ball was cleared as far as Louis Kennedy at the edge of the box who curled one into the top left corner for 3-1
Half-time: Bo’ness United 3-1 Heart of Midlothian
The Jam Tarts looked to improve in the second half
The ball was fired into Taylor Hogarth in the box
he produced a smart turn to wriggle away from a Bo’ness defender and fired a powerful shot into the bottom left corner for 3-2
Matty Gillies played a great through ball to split the Bo’ness defence and Mackenzie Ross latched onto it in the box
but he was unable to get a shot away and it was cleared from danger by the hosts
Bo’ness scored their fourth of the afternoon shortly after
A free-kick from the right side of the penalty area was pinged to the back post
and substitute Ryan Schiavone eventually tapped it in on the line for 4-2
The ball was lofted from midfield which forced Josh Campbell to rush out of his area
and headed it over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net
The Wee Jambos continued to turn the screw deep into injury time
Henry James got down to the byline and played a low cut-back into a crowded penalty area
It found Dominic Plank who hit a first time shot on his right foot which went agonisingly wide of the post
Speaking to the Official Hearts Website at full-time
but I think that's often the case when you come away to these grounds in this league as they play direct and they make it a really aggressive physical game
“For half an hour we passed the ball really well
we got caught with a couple of goals in transition and a set play which has been our Achilles heel this year
We conceded from two set plays which is really disappointing
“The positive is that the boys worked tremendously hard all the way through the game
they competed brilliantly and they played some really good football and scored three good goals
The disappointing thing is how easily we conceded and the softness of the goals against us.”
© Copyright 2016 - 2025 Heart of Midlothian
PetroIneos plant at Grangemouth(Image: Daily Record)Motherwell and Wishaw’s MSP has drawn comparisons of the demise of Grangemouth’s oil refinery to the steel works at Ravenscraig
Clare Adamson blasted the UK Government after Grangemouth’s owner Petroineos confirmed Scotland’s only oil refinery has stopped processing crude oil after a century of operations
The SNP MSP expressed solidarity with the workers who she says have been let down by Labour after they promised before last year’s UK General Election to save the refinery
She condemned the Labour UK Government’s failure to protect the livelihoods of the Grangemouth workforce
drawing a powerful comparison between the situation at Grangemouth and the closure of the Ravenscraig steelworks on 24 June 1992
which left a damaging legacy in post-industrial Motherwell
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The SNP has called for the Grangemouth refinery to be nationalised but this was rejected by the UK Government
despite the Labour administration recently taking similar action to save the British Steelworks at Scunthorpe
Ms Adamson said: “I watched as the Ravenscraig towers came down
Ravenscraig was the biggest strip steel mill in Europe at the time
1,200 jobs were lost directly and thousands more across Lanarkshire
It left a lasting scar on the lives and livelihoods of people in my community
The former steel works at Ravenscraig(Image: DX)“It is the moment that drove me into politics because I wanted to push for better outcomes for people in Motherwell and Wishaw and governance which served the interests of the people of Scotland
we need to transition away from fossil fuels and focus our investment on renewables
But that cannot be done without a transition for the people who work in the sector
That was the real betrayal at Ravenscraig; the failure to provide any kind of fair transition for the workers and communities devastated by UK policies.”
The MSP claims many in the Motherwell community never really recovered from the loss of Ravenscraig and that the people of Grangemouth now find themselves in a similar predicament
Petroineos in Grangemouth(Image: Daily Record)“The awful situation at Grangemouth reminds me of those days,” she continued
“And we can see a clear division between action at Scunthorpe when it was threatened with closure and inaction at Grangemouth
“The UK Government was right to step in to save the steel plant at Scunthorpe; the workers deserved that protection
and we are now in the bizarre situation of being an oil-producing country without refining capacity
Workers protest at Petroineos plans to close Grangemouth oil refinery earlier this year(Image: PA)“The people of Grangemouth have been betrayed by this Labour government
just as my own constituency was betrayed by Thatcher’s government during the closure of Ravenscraig
I never thought I’d see the day when a Labour government would turn its back on a community in the same way
“The Scottish Government has worked constructively with the UK Government since the General Election
But Labour came into power on a clear promise to save the refinery
The refinery in Grangemouth pictured from Bo'ness(Image: Daily Record)“It’s times like these that show why I push for Scottish independence
We need full control over our own affairs because this incident shows that
whether it’s the Tories or Labour in power
the UK does not serve Scotland’s interests
“Project Willow is the plan to secure Grangemouth’ long term industrial future
I am sad that there was no equivalent of Project Willow for Ravenscraig but we need to get on with delivering for this nationally significant site
And we need to see long-term investment and commitment to repairing the damage done by the UK’s post-industrial legacy for communities like mine.”
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An internal Falkirk Council investigation that followed the closure of Bo'ness Recreation Centre has concluded that "many areas remain unanswered"
as many of those involved are no longer with the council
The recreation centre closed earlier than had been agreed last May after corrosion was identified in the concrete walls of the swimming pool
But council chiefs were disturbed to find that serious structural failings of a very similar nature appeared to have been highlighted previously in a report written in 2019
written by the council's structural engineer
stated: “In view of the hazard to the public and the increased risk caused by the weakened corner of the structure
it is my opinion that the swimming pool should be closed and drained as soon as possible
“Monitoring the cracks and damage would not be appropriate in these circumstances
A specialist contractor should be appointed to repair the swimming pool
The will involve replacing all defective concrete and reinforcement at the South East corner of the pool as soon as possible.”
while the proposal was made to close Bo'ness Recreation Centre as part of Falkirk Council's strategic property review
that report was not part of any considerations
One of the new officers involved in the closure came across the report by chance and brought it to the council's attention
An internal audit report ordered by Director of Place
aimed to find out why the work had not been carried out and how the report had eventually been completely overlooked
But auditors found that many of the people who made the decisions at the time - when the building was managed by Falkirk Community Trust - no longer work for the council and it has been difficult to get answers
An executive summary of the "fact-finding exercise" is being presented to members of Falkirk Council's Audit committee next Tuesday
as an appendix to the Internal Audit Progress Report
From several interviews and reviewing the evidence received
the latest report says that "contributing factors towards the failings identified can be summarised as follows:
• There was no-one within the council who actively followed up the actions of the original 2019 report
• There was a lack of urgency to undertake the repairs (could be in part due to Trust management stating to staff the pool was safe to use)
• There was a shortage of health and safety / Facilities Team inspections on the fabric of the building
• A lack of documented communication between the Trust and the Council around repair requirements and seeking additional quotes
• The tenders requested did not follow proper procurement guidance
and details of repairs were not centrally stored to monitor progress
resulting in no follow ups on work undertaken
• No decision process documented throughout to support any actions taken
The 2019 report - which identified the structural issues with the pool tank - was commissioned by Falkirk Community Trust
following "the discovery of water pooling in a publicly accessible corridor floor
as well as walls which were damp to the touch."
The audit summary states: "We found no evidence to confirm that the hard copy of the original ‘2019 report’ (which reflected the urgency required) had been cascaded to relevant officers
the Trust’s General Manager and the Sports and Recreation Manager
although there was dialogue documented in monthly SLA meetings between all the relevant parties that suggested they knew of its existence."
Discussions between the Trust and the Council about what could be done and how to repair the pool structure resulted "in several conflicting tenders from four different companies"
One was for repairing the deteriorating concrete
a lack of consistency in the responses from each of the four companies about what repair was appropriate
"There was also very little evidence to support the final decision and course of action to regrout the pool
"This gathering of different tenders and the related decision making resulted in delays in achieving the final repair of regrouting the pool."
But the auditors also note that after several interviews and reviewing all the documentation available "there are many areas that remain unanswered" - partly due to the difficulty in interviewing some former employees
• No evidence of the distribution of the hard copy of the original 2019 report to members of the Trust
• No evidence of why a ‘second opinion’ on action to be taken was required
• Unclear why the opinion was that the pool was safe in 2019
and the decision was to drop water levels prior to any work being undertaken
• No evidence of agreement with the council’s facilities team for the work required to be included in the second opinion quotes
The report says it is also unclear why the Trust took the lead for the repair work when issues with structural integrity were the responsibility of the Council and there is "no evidence of what was actually quoted for"
There is also: • No evidence why the planned regrouting work was not completed after the Covid-19 lockdown
• No evidence why the five year repair plan didn’t pick up the work still to be done earlier
• Unable to determine why the SPR condition survey did not initially pick up an issue with the pool tank
The issue was raised at a meeting of Falkirk Council in March 2024 by Councillor Brian McCabe who wrote to Audit Scotland demanding an investigation
councillors were advised to wait for the outcome of the internal audit investigation
Falkirk Council's audit committee meets on Tuesday
April 29 at 10 am in Grangemouth Community Education Unit
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Investigating, the team heard a “clear allegation” that on Monday, September 18, 2023, alcohol had been sold to a 13-year-old.
Members of Falkirk Council’s licensing board heard on Wednesday that CCTV footage of two separate incidents at Hillcrest Store had shown the owner selling vodka to a 13-year-old girl, then wine, vodka, WKD and Four Loco to a 17-year-old.
The review of the licence of the shop at 26 Hillcrest, Bo’ness, was made jointly by Police Scotland and Falkirk Council’s licensing department.
The board heard that the council’s licensing team had received an email, last September, alleging that children were being sold alcohol at the store, which had been recently taken over by Mr and Mrs Patel.
Checking the CCTV, investigators saw footage of the teenager being sold vapes and a half bottle of vodka by the owner, Ritesh Patel, who did not see any ID at the time.
Police Scotland were informed and the shop was monitored closely from November 12, 2023 to January 12, 2024.
However, when responding to an unrelated incident on January 31, police officers reviewing CCTV noticed a girl who they knew to be 17 years old buying alcohol, again without being asked for ID.
The footage from January 26 showed the teenager buying two 70cl bottles of WKD, two 440ml cans of Four Loko, one bottle of wine and one 20cl bottle of Smirnoff Vodka.
Both offences were reported to the Procurator Fiscal, but the case was not taken to court.
When questioned why this might be, Police Sergeant Bellingham said he could not speak on behalf of the court but he understood that both witnesses were reluctant to go to court and any case was unlikely to succeed without their evidence.
Mr and Mrs Patel’s agent told the board the shopkeeper is “deeply sorry” for what was “a genuine human error”.
She said Mr Patel insisted both customers had previously shown them ID “which, we now know, must have been fraudulent”.
She added that the couple had invested a lot of time and money in the business and believed they were making a difference to the community.
“They are truly devastated to find themselves in this position today,” she said.
She added that at the time of the second incident the Patels were experiencing “significant anti-social behaviour and harassment towards them” from a group of youths.
Mr Patel, she said, was “under severe stress” and was distracted at the time.
However, he insisted he had seen the ID on previous occasions, although he now realises it was fake.
Deputy convener of the licensing board, Councillor Bryan Deakin, said the board had found there were grounds for reviewing the premises licence, held by Patel Retail Ltd, and Mr Patel’s personal licence.
The shop had failed to operate a Challenge 25 policy and had not observed a condition that ID must be checked every time alcohol is purchased by a customer who looks under the age of 25.
The three-month suspension will run from Monday, October 28 until Tuesday, January 28, 2025.
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