Trail of blood led police to Traill Street shop thief in Thurso
‘Audacious burglary’ at Thurso
From the Groat of November 28, 1924
Police had apprehended a 17-year-old youth who had broken into the shop of Mr RF Leslie, bookseller and newsagent, in Traill Street, Thurso.
It was when opening the shop that the owner discovered he had had an “unwelcome visitor” during the night, and that five shillings had been taken from the till and a quantity of cigarettes and other articles purloined.
“The thief had affected an entrance through the back window facing Princes Street, and, from the bloodstains on the broken pane and in the immediate vicinity of the window, had apparently cut himself rather badly in the process.”
It was reported that “no-one could have instituted more practical enquiries than did the local police force”, and with the “clues afforded by a mouth organ, a special brand of cigarettes and the cuts the unlawful intruder must have sustained” the youth was apprehended 24 hours later.
Elsewhere, members of the Wick School Management Committee had been told about concerns relating to the transport service which conveyed Manson Bequest bursars to and from Wick High School daily.
As well as the distance pupils in the Auckengill area had to walk to use the service, there were complaints that the driver was taking “adult passengers on the car, who in some cases sit on the children’s knees so that the children are quite tired out”.
It was agreed to take the matter up with the contractor.
Boxing club’s first public show
From the Groat of November 29, 1974
Caithness Amateur Boxing Club was to hold its first public show in the Assembly Rooms in Wick.
It was expected that the “varied programme of bouts should attract a large crowd, especially as this is the first boxing event of this kind seen in Wick for many years”.
In a lightweight contest, internationalist and Scottish team captain John Gillan (Aberdeen) was to meet his fellow club member Norman Houston, the British and Scottish university champion.
Also taking part was featherweight internationalist Harry Johnstone (Insch).
Among the locals set to take to the ring were Tam Mulraine, Robert Macdonald, Robert Sutherland, Donald Harper, Steven Wright, William Harper, Alan Duffus, Brian Davidson and Bruce Mackenzie.
Elsewhere it was reported that the Prototype Fast Reactor at Dounreay had been put out of commission – by seaweed.
The reactor – “the most advanced in Britain” – used seawater in its cooling system and the inlet pipes had been clogged with seaweed dislodged by recent storms. As a result, scientists had been unable to feed generated electricity into the national grid for two weeks.
Meanwhile, Lybster man Donald Omand was to be transferred to Caithness to take up the role of local lecturer and organiser in Aberdeen University’s Department of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies.
Caithness ‘didn’t fight hard enough’
From the Groat of December 3, 1999
The Caithness public didn’t fight hard enough to keep control of council and health services in the county, according to the chairman of the Caithness Economic Partnership.
George Bruce said that “local people had failed to realise what they stood to lose and are now suffering the social and economic consequences of the changes”.
Caithness District Council and Caithness and Sutherland NHS Trust had both disappeared as a result of government-imposed restructuring, with major decision-making having moved to Inverness.
“People didn’t realise what was being lost,” Mr Bruce said. “I think they’re now regretting it.”
He pointed out that the changes had resulted in lost jobs locally and a social cost, while the linking of council posts to cover Caithness and Sutherland had made those jobs “almost unworkable”.
Meanwhile, almost 500 Caithness homes were left without electricity after strong winds brought down an overhead power cable and closed the Thurso/Castletown road.
A police spokesman said that the road closure lasted for an hour and while it caused some inconvenience for motorists there was no major disruption.
In Thurso, the gala had been saved after a last-ditch appeal for volunteers resulted in a “heartening” response which meant that a committee and office-bearers could be elected to keep the event going.
