Looking Back – news from the John O'Groat Journal of yesteryear

Ex-soldier on assault charge

From the Groat of October 27, 1922

There was a large attendance of the public at Wick Sheriff Court when labourer William Carter of Latheronwheel pleaded not guilty to assaulting a woman in the village.

The victim said she had been caught by the back of the neck, dragged across the road and a handkerchief shoved in her mouth. “The person struck her about the head, tripped her, and when she fell to the ground took the handkerchief from her mouth and put it over her eyes and struck her with an umbrella which she had been carrying.”

She told the court she screamed that her brother was coming, at which point the assailant let her go and she recognised the accused, although his cap was pulled so low she could only see the bottom part of his face.

Summing up for the defence, solicitor Mr G Green said the victim’s facial injuries had been described as making her “unrecognisable” the day after the incident “and yet on Thursday she went to a dance with her forehead cut and her eyes blackened. He (Mr Green) thought that young ladies wished to look their best at a ball, and he thought the injuries to the girl could not have been as serious as she stated.” Also, a man with such a good war record “would be the last person to attack an undefended girl”. The sheriff deferred a decision.

Building boom in county

From the Groat of October 27, 1972

Almost 400 houses and chalets were being mooted in schemes around the county.

Volstead Properties was seeking permission for 300 holiday homes in Latheron, while applications had been submitted for 40 houses for a scheme in Lybster, 36 houses and chalets, also in Lybster, 12 houses at Latheron, plus smaller groups or single dwellings in Mid-Clyth, Reay, and Wick and the surrounding area. These figures took no account of proposals for Thurso, which had its own planning authority.

Such was the number of buildings proposed that at the county council planning committee Captain Nigel Gunn, Berriedale, called for a county planning scheme. He said that between the Lybster and Latheron applications they were dealing with 388 dwellings.

Elsewhere, Sutherland Social Work Committee was on the lookout for a site on the east coast suitable for “geriatric accommodation” to replace the county council’s current old folks’ home at Rhives House, Golspie.

The committee heard that the proposed new build needed to be at the centre of a populated area and near to the community’s various activities. It was suggested that an alternative use be found for Rhives House.

Fishing ban near Dounreay

From the Groat of October 31, 1997

The UK Atomic Energy Authority pledged to cooperate with an inquiry into the risk of radioactive waste contaminating fish near Dounreay.

All fishing within a 2km radius of the pipe used to discharge nuclear waste had been banned from 8pm the previous Wednesday and the landing and processing of all species from this area had been prohibited.

The ban was evidence of a “tougher regulatory approach toward radioactive pollution” by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency than its predecessor, HM Industrial Pollution Inspectorate, “which anti-nuclear campaigners claimed was in cahoots with the nuclear industry”.

As a result of the ban a fisherman whose family had laid creels in the area for two generations was considering seeking compensation for the closure of the grounds. And he expressed concern that the adverse publicity would destroy the shellfish market at Scrabster. However, James Innes welcomed the announcement, saying he had had concerns for some time.

“I did have cause for concern three or four years ago when I pulled a glove-box seal from the sea off Dounreay," he said. "It was wrapped round one of the creels and I threw it back. It would’ve been highly radioactive but I did not see any point in bringing it ashore because nothing would have been said about it.”

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