Review Of 2009 – January to June

Dec 29 2009 by Andy Newport, Paisley Daily Express

WITH just a few days left until the end of 2009, it is a time of reflection for people across Renfrewshire. The ‘Noughties’ will soon be over and Buddies are now looking forward to 2010 and the start of a new decade. The Paisley Daily Express was on hand to record all the news that mattered during 2009. And every Buddie’s favourite newspaper will be there to make sure you don’t miss a thing throughout 2010. Today, Express reporter ANDY NEWPORT looks back on the events which made the headlines during January to June this year. And make sure you get tomorrow’s Express for the second part of our Review of 2009.

JANUARY

THE family of a young man who was stabbed to death are left heartbroken after his evil killer is allowed out of prison to visit a pub.

Neil Dalziel was sentenced to 10 years behind bars – later reduced to eight years on appeal – after stabbing budding footballer Andrew McInnes through the heart.

Andrew’s devastated mum Pamela is shocked to discover that Dalziel is spotted drinking in a pub less than a mile from the spot where he took her son’s life.

Heartbroken Pamela said: “It makes me sick that I’ve lost my son and yet Dalziel has been able to pop down to the pub for a night out.”

• THE year gets off to a bizarre start for pensioner John Nicoll as he loses the plot and throws a plate of baked beans over his partner of 23 years.

Nicholl, 67, is fined £200 when he appears at Paisley Sheriff Court on an assault charge.

He had been left raging when Margaret McTeir, 42, decided he was having beans for his dinner.

Nicoll was expecting a little more to celebrate the New Year and flew off the handle, showering Margaret with the food.

But, despite landing in the dock on an ‘assault with beans’ charge, he is forgiven by Margaret and they vow to stay together.

• The Paisley Daily Express reveals how an animal lover is left with crippling injuries after tripping over her pet dog in a bizarre accident.

Mags Crawford tried to grab on to a heavy filing cabinet to break her fall but it toppled over on top of her and left her trapped on the floor for 27 agonising hours.

Amazingly, the 35-year-old Paisley woman managed to raise the alarm after her clever pet pooches Oliver and Patsy DRAGGED her to a coffee table so that she could reach her phone and call for help.

Mags, who suffered serious spinal injuries in the freak accident, told the Express: “The only reason I survived is because of my dogs. I owe them my life.”

•  WORSHIPPERS at St Mirin’s Cathedral in Paisley are stunned when Mass is interrupted by a mystery voice coming over the loudspeaker to ask: “Who’s going to get me a sausage roll?”

Parish priest Eoin Patten is in the middle of the 4pm Sunday service when an unidentified male voice cuts in during a reading.

One bemused parishioner told the Express: “I don’t think Father Patten was too happy but I have to confess that I found it hilarious.”

FEBRUARY

BECKHAM-MANIA sweeps through Paisley as the football icon jets into town ahead of AC Milan’s star-studded friendly with Rangers.

Stars with the Italian giants are swamped by autograph hunters when their flight lands at Glasgow Airport.

And David Beckham is the star of the show – with fans jostling for a glimpse of the former Manchester United hero.

Campaigning football team boss John Plott is among the fans waiting to greet ‘Becks’.

John said: “At the airport, it was like a rugby scrum. I have been at airports in the past to hand jerseys to people like Ronaldinho and Maradona but this was the busiest scrum I have ever seen.”

• A COLD-BLOODED killer who bludgeoned his former lover to death for a pile of loose change is jailed for life.

Judge Lord Matthews told 39-year-old Paolo Parracho he had committed an appalling crime by smashing Tracey Scott over the head during a savage attack at her Paisley home.

And he orders the evil murderer to spend at least 17 years behind bars before he can be considered for parole.

Sentencing former waiter Parracho at the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Matthews told him: “It is an appalling breach of hospitality. This lady should have felt safe in her home.”

• A SWIMMING pool attendant is sacked after filming a teenager while she is getting dressed in a changing cubicle at the leisure centre where he works.

Weirdo Gary McLean, 26, targeted the young student while he was on duty.

His 19-year-old victim was horrified after she spotted a mobile phone lying on the floor of the cubicle and noticed the camera was activated.

Shamefaced McLean appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court to admit conducting himself in a disorderly manner, using a mobile phone camera to video record the woman without her knowledge or consent within a private cubicle area while she was dressing and placing her in a state of fear and alarm.

• A BRAVE shopkeeper takes on a masked raider by grabbing a deadly weapon out of the thug’s hand.

Father-of-three Khalid Mahmood is hailed a hero for sending the would-be thief packing.

The 43-year-old businessman courageously leaps into action when the robber walks into his store and threatens him with a gun and a blade.

Gutsy Khalid said: “The guy said, ‘give me the money, give me the money’ but I thought, ‘there’s no way he’s getting my cash.’”

MARCH

BOOZE bosses warn that Paisley’s pub scene is dying off as the shutters slam down at more and more of the town’s once-popular watering holes.

A disastrous cocktail of circumstances – the credit crunch, cheap supermarket booze deals and the lingering effects of the smoking ban – is blamed for the demise of some of Renfrewshire’s most historic pubs.

In Paisley alone, the likes of the Cellar Bar, the Stow Brae and Russells all close their doors.

Paisley man Paul Waterson, chief executive of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: “Some of the places which are closing were great pubs. They have been part of the very fabric of Paisley.

“If you lose the pubs, you lose the social centre of a community because this is where people meet and talk.”

•  A PAISLEY street is branded Scotland’s most polluted.

Central Way – close to Gilmour Street railway station – has the worst air quality in the country, inspectors reveal.

Hundreds of buses, taxis and private cars pass through, or pick up, at Central Way every day.

Paisley North MSP Wendy Alexander said: “I am not surprised by these results. Central Way is hugely polluted due to bus traffic.”

• FALLEN St Mirren star Barry Lavety is fined £400 after clashing with police following a night out in Paisley town centre.

The one-time Love Street golden boy is nabbed by cops who found him urinating in the street.

Lavety is led to a waiting patol car but begins to shout and swear once inside.

He admits conducting himself in a disorderly manner and committing a breach of the peace at Paisley Sheriff Court.

Lavety’s lawyer Terry Gallanagh told the court: “He was recognised by police as he is as close as you will get to a celebrity in Paisley and he over-reacted when approached by the officers.”

• STUNNED postmaster Roger Cairney is forced to evacuate his shop after a man gives him ‘suspect’ mail addressed to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and TV talk show host Jeremy Kyle.

Mr Cairney tells the Express he was warned by Special Branch officers to keep an eye out for dodgy-looking letters and packages.

The warning follows an incident earlier in the month when it is claimed a number of letter-bombs were sent to various people, including First Minister Alex Salmond.

Mr Cairney said: “Special Branch officers told me that, if I came across anything I thought was suspicious, I was to call them. One of the letters was addressed to Gordon Brown and another to Jeremy Kyle.”

APRIL

AN evil sex fiend’s desperate bid to beat justice finally fails when he is given a life sentence for abducting and raping a policeman’s teenage daughter.

Twisted John Munro, of Glenburn, Paisley, is ordered to serve a minimum of eight years in jail.

The callous beast tried to worm his way out of justice by getting his sentencing put off for the 12th time since being convictied of the crime in January 2008 so he could get another lawyer to represent him.

Munro also asked Lord Kinclaven to let him out of jail immediately because he had spent more than a year in custody without his case being dealt with.

But the judge rejected his pleas at the High Court in Edinburgh and told him there was “no question” of him being released immediately.

• A GAS cooker is blamed for a massive explosion that blows a family home to bits.

Ian and Emily Reid have a miracle escape as the blast rips the front and back walls off their terraced house as they sit inside.

The pensioners are taken to hospital, where they are treated for burns.

At the back of Mr and Mrs Reid’s house, the bedroom wall collapsed, leaving their bed, chest of drawers and other furniture clearly visible and exposed to the elements.

One source told the Express: “It’s incredible that this couple survived the blast.”

• ST MIRREN legend Billy Abercromby is reunited with his treasured Scottish Cup winner’s medal – thanks to the Paisley Daily Express.

‘Aber’ feared his most prized possession was lost forever after it went missing almost 20 years ago.

But the captain of the Buddies’ 1987 cup-winning side gets his hands on the medal at long last after a Saints supporter spotted his plea in the Express.

Aber had hidden the medal behind the fireplace of a house in Kilbarchan where he once lived but was so “out of it” through drink in those days that he forgot to take it with him when he moved out.

The 50-year-old former midfielder told the Express: “This is fantastic. I thought the medal was gone forever.”

• A PAISLEY man is arrested on the holiday island of Gran Canaria after his girlfriend is brutally stabbed.

A dream break for pretty Lindsay Green, her partner James Gilmour and 13 pals in the sun-kissed Spanish resort turns into a nightmare when she has a blade plunged into her back.

The 20-year-old victim suffered a collapsed lung in the horror attack.

Gilmour is arrested and charged with attempting to murder Lindsay. He is later jailed for six years by a Spanish court.

MAY

RESIDENTS celebrate a victory for people power when police bosses ditch plans to build a new jail just yards from a quiet housing estate.

The controversial move to open a custody centre, which would have been used to hold suspected criminals overnight before they could be taken to court the next day, sparked outrage.

But cops are forced into a U-turn after a two-year campaign by angry residents.

Protestors argued the proposed site for the new jail in the Millarston area of Paisley, which backs on to the Castle Gardens housing estate, was inappropriate.

They feared the safety of families could be at risk if prisoners managed to escape from the custody centre.

David Sinclair, who led the protests, told the Express: “It has been a hard fight and there were times when we thought we wouldn’t win but we’re all delighted the right decision has now been made.”

• SHOCKED workers at the Hewlett Packard plant in Erskine are devastated by grim news that they are to lose their jobs.

There are emotional scenes at the electronics firm’s base as staff are told bosses are transferring work to the Czech Republic.

Jonathan Nicol, 22, who works as a cleaner at the plant, said: “I hadn’t heard anything about these job cuts. I’m really shocked.

“I don’t know what I’ll do now.”

• HORRIFIED families flee in panic when a seven-strong gang of armed thugs try to kill a teenager in a busy Paisley street.

Terrified mums with young children scream as the petrified 18-year-old victim is brutally stabbed in the chest.

Shocked drivers have to stop and others are forced to swerve to avoid ploughing into the wild melee in Neilston Road, near Stock Street.

A gang appeared and attacked the victim as he came out of a shop. Seconds later, he collapsed in a pool of blood.

Two young men aged 15 and 18 and a third man, aged 39, are later arrested and charged with attempted murder.

JUNE

AN outbreak of swine flu spreads across Paisley.

Hundreds of boys and girls at Paisley Grammar School are sent home for seven days after Third Year pupil Dionne Fullerton is confirmed as having the Influenza A (H1N1) virus.

All 230 of the girl’s peers are offered Tamiflu.

The swine flu outbreak goes on to have an impact at a number of other schools in the Paisley area.

• TRIBUTES pour in for a Paisley footballer who died in a horror off-road accident.

Dumbarton FC skipper Gordon Lennon was on a family trip to Brahan, near Dingwall, with his partner Kelly and five-month-old son Kai when tragedy struck.

The 26-year-old dad suffered serious injuries when the car he was driving hit an electricity pole.

Gordon was rushed to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness but sadly died, despite the best efforts of medical staff.

• CHILDREN are left close to tears as removal men move in on their doomed school to take away desks and chairs two days BEFORE it closes its doors for good.

Furious parents slam “heartless” education bosses after they order the clear-out.

Mums and dads claim some youngsters at South Primary in Paisley were left upset when they arrived at school to be met by a removal team busy emptying the building.

The school was controversially shut down by Renfrewshire Council in a cost-cutting move and angry parents said the surprise move was “the final insult”.

Pauline Riggens, treasurer of the South School Parent Council, told the Express: “Children, staff and parents were visibly upset by the situation they were met with this morning. I am sure this work could have been carried out next week.”