Greenock Telegraph
‘WE’RE READY TO RESTORE CONFIDENCE IN FERGUSON MARINE’
WORKERS at Ferguson Marine stand ready to ‘restore confidence’ in the Port Glasgow yard after securing a guaranteed five-year pipeline of work, according to the site’s CEO. In an announcement made yesterday, the Scottish Government confirmed its...
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THOUSANDS ADMITTED TO HOSPITAL AS RESULT OF MISUSE OF DRINK AND DRUGS
MORE than 4,000 hospital admissions in Inverclyde over the last five years have been the result of misuse of drugs or alcohol, according to ‘deeply concerning’ new figures. Shock statistics from Public Health Scotland reveal that 3,279 alcohol-related...
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‘IT’S AN ACCIDENT JUST WAITING TO HAPPEN’
A DERELICT farm filled with thousands of dumped tyres described as a ticking ‘time bomb’ fire hazard could claim the lives of youngsters who are sneaking into the area, residents fear. Inverclyde Council has issued a dangerous building notice for...
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HUGE RISE IN COUNCIL TAX PLANNED
HOUSEHOLDS face a massive hike in council tax bills. Councillors are being asked to approve an increase this year to plug a £6.2 million budget black hole.
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DRIVER WHO RAMMED HEAD-ON INTO POLICE CAR JAILED
A DRIVER who seriously injured a constable when he used his BMW as a ‘battering ram’ during a police chase has been jailed for more than twoand-a-half years. Lewis Wiggins left one officer with a prolapsed disc in his spine when he drove directly at...
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KNIFE ATTACK MURDER BID
A KNIFE attacker has been found guilty of repeatedly stabbing a man in a brutal murder bid at the victim’s Port Glasgow home. Michael Doherty knifed his victim on the head and body during the assault before asking police: “How is the c*** anyway?”...
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THIEVES STRIKE AT DAY CENTRE FOR 4TH TIME
A DAY centre for older people in Greenock has come under attack from heartless criminals for the FOURTH time - with hundreds of pounds raised by service users stolen in the senseless raid. Crown Care Centre in King Street is one of a number of...
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BRAVE TEEN CELEBRATES ‘CANCER- VERSARY’FULL
A BRAVE Greenock teenager who battled stage four cancer is celebrating his life one year on from ‘ringing the cancer bell’. Jon Jai Stanton, 13, was diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkin lymphoma in August 2024 and endured a gruelling chemotherapy...
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‘HE LIVED FOR HIS FOOTBALL’
WARM tributes have been paid to Inverclyde’s record-breaking king of football – who bounced back from family tragedy to become one of the Scottish game’s longest serving managers. The family of Greenock footballing legend Larry Barilli have paid...
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‘THEY JUST GAVE UP ON MY MUM’
A DISTRAUGHT daughter has hit out at the health board after her previously mobile mother was left bed-bound with no rehabilitation plan in place following a four-month stay in hospital. Outraged Angela Jack has raised a catalogue of concerns about the...
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55 DAYS FOR CEILING FIX
A FURIOUS son has hit out at housing bosses after his dad’s ceiling collapsed only days before Christmas. William McGowan, 83, who lives at the Crosshill Gardens retirement housing complex in Port Glasgow, has Alzheimer’s and has been left traumatised...
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20mph LIMIT ‘COULD COST LIVES’
LIVES could be put at risk by plans to introduce 20mph speed limits on Inverclyde’s streets, a campaigning councillor has warned. East Renfrewshire told the council that firefighters would have to adhere to the limits when in their own vehicles.
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‘IRH NURSES SAVED MY LIFE’
A GREENOCK woman has hailed the nurses at Inverclyde Royal Hospital who she says saved her life. Nening Anderson told the Telegraph that she “thought she was going to die” after being admitted on Christmas Day with a severe infection caused by...
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‘WE SAY TO FIRE CUTS’
MEMBERS of the public have overwhelmingly rejected plans for a major reshaping of fire service cover in Inverclyde. And a leading campaigner against the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) proposals for the area says the public’s views send a...
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‘THIS WILL BE HER LEGACY’
CHILDREN and young people at the end of life will be treated with ‘dignity’ in their final hours in hospital as part of a lasting legacy spearheaded by the late cancer campaigner Molly Cuddihy. During her eight-year fight with cancer and deadly...
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JAIL FOR KILLER WHO STABBED FRIEND
A KILLER has been jailed for nine years for stabbing his friend to death at flats in Port Glasgow. Lewis Mullen, 25, killed Jack Trainner, 27, during an altercation in the common close of a block of flats in Brookfield Road two years ago. He...
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‘IT NEEDS TO BE DEMOLISHED’
BOSSES at cash-strapped Ardgowan Hospice have vowed to press ahead with the demolition of a derelict former church building they say is draining money away from the provision of vital front-line services. The charity told the Telegraph that they are...
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‘BETRAYED BY COUNCIL BOSSES’
A ‘BETRAYED’ businessman who lost hundreds of thousands of pounds due to a fouryear-long road closure has been left gutted after council bosses told him they have abandoned their plan to repair the route. Robert Kirkpatrick has been asking the council...
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IRH REPAIR FUNDING REJECTED
CRITICAL repairs needed to make Inverclyde Royal Hospital wind and watertight will not go ahead after the Scottish Government rejected a bid for funding. Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board has confirmed that it will not be able to deliver on a...
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RESIDENTS FACE BEING LEFT ‘HOMELESS’
HOMEOWNERS living in Greenock flats with condemned RAAC roofs have now been abandoned by housing bosses and are in danger of being forced out of their homes. Factors River Clyde Homes have taken the decision to stop providing maintenance, carrying out...
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‘I’M PINCHING MYSELF STILL’
A MUM-OF-TWO has told how she suffered from severe seizures which left her injured and forced doctors to cut off her wedding ring in a bid to save her finger – before medication helped her turn her life around. Jaclyn Wallace, 46, was diagnosed with...
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‘I WENT FOR AN EAR TEST TO SHOW MY HUSBAND I WASN’T DEAF... BUT IT TURNED OUT I WAS’
A CHURCH organist who went for a hearing appointment to prove to her husband there was nothing wrong with her ears has told how it led her to the life-changing discovery that she was profoundly deaf. Patricia Broom told the Telegraph that her husband,...
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‘MURDER BID’ HAIRDRESSER IN THE DOCK
A HAIRDRESSER has gone on trial charged with attacking a man with a hammer and attempting to murder him at a barber shop in Greenock town centre. Alan Stocks is alleged to have repeatedly struck the man on the head with the item at Room 2...
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SCHOOL’S STILL OUT
CONCERNS are growing about the impact on hundreds of students as the main West College Scotland campus in Greenock remains shut due to a ‘critical’ boiler breakdown - with Scottish ministers coming under growing pressure to intervene in the...
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HIGH STREET ‘TRAGEDY’
SHOCK figures which show that almost 1,000 Inverclyde businesses have closed down in the last five years have been branded a ‘tragedy’ - as local traders warn that more firms will close if the crisis is not addressed. New data from the Office for...
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‘SMEARS ARE RACIALLY DRIVEN’
THE businessman behind a bid to convert a former Inverclyde care home into a ‘house of multiple occupation’ claims he’s the victim of a racially-driven smear campaign by those opposed to his plans.
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‘I HAD FIVEP3 SEIZURES AT CAPPIELOW’
A KITMAN who was left fighting for his life after taking five seizures while working at Cappielow has told how ex-Ton boss Dougie Imrie and his assistant Andy Millen came to his rescue – and he has since defied the odds to make an incredible...
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ABUSER MADE 1300 CALLS FROM JAIL
A DOMESTIC abuser brazenly breached a court order preventing him from contacting his ex-partner by calling her more than 1,300 times in six months - while he was behind bars at HMP Greenock. Raymond McNab committed the offence while in prison for a...
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FIFTY WAIT HALF A DAY AT IRH A&E
MORE than 50 people were left waiting in excess of 12 hours to be treated at Inverclyde Royal Hospital’s A&E department earlier this month - one of the highest weekly totals since records began. New statistics released by Public Health Scotland show...
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CHILD RAPIST’S LIES EXPOSED
A RAPIST who was jailed after getting his child victim pregnant was back in the dock after he lied to a woman about his identity and hid his relationship with her from police.
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‘RAW SEWAGE POURED INTO MY HOME ... ONE YEAR ON , IT’S NOT FIXED’
A GOUROCK man has slammed Scottish Water for taking a year to fix a sewer collapse that left raw sewage pouring through his dining room ceiling. Barrie Kelly, 59, hit out at staff from the company for repeatedly insisting that the problem at his...
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‘I CHEATED DEATH AND I’M SO GLAD TO BE ALIVE’
A BRAVE mum who cheated death after a horrific road crash says she still feels lucky to be alive – almost 25 years after the accident. Sandra McKenzie’s car veered off the road in June 2001 while she was driving to work – and medics said they didn’t...
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£500,000 COCAINE RAID GROUP IN COURT
FOUR accused have appeared in court after police seized drugs worth an estimated half a million pounds in a raid in Greenock’s west end. One man and three women have been charged with being concerned in the supply of cocaine to another, or others, at...
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SOBS FROM GALLERY AS SENTENCED IS PASSED
A POLICE officer and a former constable have been jailed for a total of 17 months after they ‘seriously abused’ their positions in the force. Connor Beggs, 32, and Kevin Montgomery, 35, were last month convicted of neglecting or violating their duty...
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1,400 REPAIRS OUTSTANDING
THE repair back log for Inverclyde’s largest social housing landlord has risen to more than 1,400 outstanding jobs despite almost £20 million being spent on trying to bring issue under control, an investigation by the Tele has found. Figures obtained...
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‘PETROL BOMB’ EVACUATION
A MAN allegedly brandished a ‘petrol bomb’ at police officers, forcing a tenement block in Greenock to be evacuated, the Crown claims. Russell Hunter has appeared in court charged with refusing to leave his flat in Dempster Street on Monday, January...
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SCHOOLS AND NURSERIES HIT BY BIG CYBER ATTACK
INTERNET access was shut off at schools and nurseries across Inverclyde yesterday after a cyber attack compromised the account of a senior member of the council’s education staff. Schools were taken offline on Monday to allow Inverclyde Council to...
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‘I WOULD HAVE ENDED UP IN PRISON OR DEAD IF IT HADN’T BEEN FOR CHANCE MEETING’
A PORT Glasgow dad who was left homeless when he was just 16 years old says he would have ended up in prison or dead if it hadn’t been for a chance meeting with a recovery worker. Darryn Farnham is only 34 and has been through more trauma than most...
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TV guide, puzzles, recipes and more...
‘Growing up in Glasgow in the 1980s - men weren’t getting married to each other, so I always just thought that’s not on the cards for me, it’s something that happens to other people. It wasn’t a thing’
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GUILTY
A PORT Glasgow man is facing years behind bars after being convicted of the brutal killing of a man at a block of flats in the town. Lewis Mullen was found guilty of stabbing 27-year-old Jack Trainner, pictured right, and leaving him bleeding in a...
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CANNABIS GROWER PLEADS FOR JAIL — BUT JUDGE SAYS NO
A KILMACOLM man who pleaded guilty to growing cannabis in a bedroom in his house and having an illegal weapon in his living room wanted to be sent to jail for the crimes. Adam Carson admitted to producing the controlled drug and being in possession of...
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DEVASTATED DAUGHTER SAYS DAD DIED DOING WHAT HE LOVED MOST TRIBUTES TO PANDA
FAMILY and friends have paid tribute to a popular Greenock performer who died suddenly at a party doing what he loved. Panda McLuskey passed away on January 2 at the age of 63. Panda, whose ‘real name’ was Andrew, was involved in music for more than...
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THUG CAGED FOR BRUTAL STABBING NEAR PLAY PARK
A THUG who stabbed his physically disabled neighbour in the back during a daylight attack directly across from youngsters in a play park in Port Glasgow has been jailed. James McMaster McLaughlin was captured on video scuffling with the victim and was...
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‘WE’RE SO PROUD OF OUR DAD’
TRIBUTES have poured in for an inspirational campaigning grandfather from Inverkip who helped Scotland tackle its knife crime epidemic after his son was stabbed to death. John Muir MBE, best known for his momentous efforts in leading Inverclyde’s...
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MURDER SUSPECT GOES ON TRIAL OVER ‘STABBING’
A MURDER accused has gone on trial at the High Court charged with killing a Port Glasgow man in an alleged stabbing. Lewis Mullen denies repeatedly striking 27-year-old Jack Trainner on the head and body with a knife, or similar instrument, in the...
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DEFIANT STORE OWNER SLAMS SHOP VANDALS
A DEFIANT Greenock shop owner has vowed to continue serving his community after vandals targeted his store - following a series of chilling warnings about his business. The Keystore run by Bikram Singh in the town’s Burns Road was targeted on Saturday...
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‘WATER WAS RUNNING DOWN THE WALL’
A PORT Glasgow woman says she has been forced out of her home for more than two months because of flooding. Ann Williamson says water poured through the ceiling in her bedroom at the flat in Kilmory Terrace during the last major storm to hit the...
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£1M SPENT REPAIRING FIRE STATIONS IN LAST FIVE YEARS
MORE than £1.1 million has been spent on repairs and essential maintenance at Inverclyde’s fire stations in the last five years – sparking furious accusations of a ‘long-term failure’ to ensure they are fit for purpose. Details obtained by the...
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Family marks special arrival
A GORGEOUS Gourock family are celebrating the safe arrival of a very special Christmas gift – even though he interrupted their festive meal on the big day. Amy Kelly and Kieran Parker welcomed their baby boy Spencer into the world at 10.59pm on...
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‘THEY’RE THE SAVIOURS OF INVERCLYDE’
A GREENOCK mum says she and her children wouldn’t have been able to eat if it hadn’t been for the lifeline service of a local food bank. Samantha Kennedy hailed the ‘saviours’ of the Inverclyde Foodbank for stepping in when she and her family were at...
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RAISE £100K FOR ‘IF I HADN’T LOST ALL THE WEIGHT I WOULD BE USING A WHEELCHAIR’
A YOUNG woman who lives in constant pain due to a condition which leaves her muscles ‘like chewing gum’ feared she would lose her mobility and be forced to use a wheelchair after piling on the pounds. Shannon Freeburn suffers from Hypermobile...
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EXTRA REASON TO CELEBRATE AT CHRISTMAS
A GREENOCK couple have told how their festive love story came to life almost seven decades ago when they tied the knot on Christmas Day. While everyone else was opening their presents on December 25, 1958, Jim and Morag Jarvie were walking down the...
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DEVOTED SON HONOURS HIS MUM WITH ‘12 DIPS FOR CHRISTMAS’
A DEVOTED son is keeping a promise to his late mum by doing ‘12 dips for Christmas’ in her memory after she lost her brave battle with cancer, aged 68. Chris Carmichael, who runs the martial arts school GFTeam Scotland, was asked by his mum Esther...
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‘IT FELT LIKE I HAD A BAD HANGOVER BUT IT WAS SEPSIS’
A PORT Glasgow mum who felt like she ‘had a three-day hangover’ after her son’s wedding was shocked to discover that she had life-threatening sepsis. Patricia Weir said she’d felt exhausted after the nuptials, and she lay on the couch and just ‘didn’t...
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TRIO DENY ABDUCTING MAN, POINTING GUN AT HEAD, AND EXTORTION
A TRIO of alleged attackers are said to have abducted and assaulted a man and demanded money after threatening him with a firearm. Kevin Cassidy, Daniel Squires, and Daniel Daley are accused of attempting to extort cash from the alleged victim after...
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JOBS AXED AT HOSPICE
JOBS have been cut at Ardgowan Hospice as the much-loved Inverclyde charity seeks to tackle a £600,000 funding deficit. Bosses at the charity say they’ve been forced to act after being ‘let down’ by the level of government funding.
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POLICE GUILTY OF ‘WEB OF DECEIT’
A JUDGE has slammed two police officers for forming a ‘web of deceit’ in the aftermath of a domestic assault in Greenock as they ‘attempted to pervert the course of justice’. Connor Beggs, 32, and Kevin Montgomery, 35, were found guilty by Sheriff Tom...
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A NEW START FOR GREENOCK
A START date has been confirmed for the longawaited £24 million redevelopment of the centre of Greenock – and new artist’s impressions have been revealed showing for the first time how the transformation will look. Work on the Central Greenock...
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COUNCIL UNDER FIRE OVER FARMERS’ MARKET CALL-OFF
THE man behind Gourock’s farmers’ market has slammed council bosses after the plug was pulled on the final event of the year – leaving traders facing the prospect of being ‘thousands upon thousands of pounds’ out of pocket just before...
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‘VINDICATED’: GP PRACTICE FORCED TO APOLOGISE TO MUM
A GREENOCK mum left fearing she might have cancer after a series of positive smear tests says she feels ‘vindicated’ after her complaints against a local GP surgery were upheld by Scotland’s public services watchdog. The Scottish Public Services...
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‘I WAS TOLD I HAD ARTHRITIS AGED JUST 26 – NOW I’M CHANGING LIVES’
A GREENOCK man who has lived with a debilitating health condition for 20 years has turned his life around through fitness – and is now helping people with heart problems in memory of his dad. with psoriatic arthritis at the age of just 26 after doctors...
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HOSPITAL FACES £121M BILL FOR REPAIR BACKLOG
INVERCLYDE Royal Hospital’s patients and staff are being exposed to leaky roofs, broken windows, faulty electrics and a crumbling exterior, the Telegraph can reveal. A freedom of information request has laid bare the extent of the hospital’s £121...
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‘HE SAW THE CAR ... THEN PUSHED ME OUT THE WAY’
A GREENOCK grandmother has paid tribute to the friend who saved her life after she was involved in a car accident in town. Sheena Beaton spent a week in hospital after the incident, which happened while she was walking along the Esplanade with her pal...
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FRAUDSTER STOLE £65K FROM MUM AND PARTNER
A GREENOCK fraudster who stole more than £65,000 from his mum and her partner to fund his drug and gambling addictions has been jailed. Paul Deas that his actions had caused ‘significant financial harm’.
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TEEN ‘CHASED MAN DOWN STREET WITH AXE’
A PORT Glasgow teenager has appeared in court charged with repeatedly trying to strike a man with an axe after chasing him along a street in the town. Michael Green is now set to stand trial before a jury over claims that he pursued the man along the...
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TEAR OFF STRIP FOR CHARITY HOUSING BOSSES DECLARE ‘MAJOR INCIDENT’ AT BLOCK OF FLATS
HOUSING bosses have declared a ‘major incident’ after a block of flats in Greenock which is home to vulnerable adults was hit by flooding for the THIRD time in a matter of weeks. People living on the ground floor at one of the blocks in MacLehose...
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BRIDGET’S TRIBUTE TO LATE SISTER AFTER WIN AT AWARDS
A VOLUNTEER at a Greenock sheltered housing complex says she owes a major national award win entirely to her sister – who died just weeks before the accolade was presented. But Bridget Donnelly revealed that her sister, Margaret Morris, never found...
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‘DRY DOCK WILL BE BACK TO ITS FORMER GLORY IN TWO YEARS’
INCHGREEN Dry Dock will be ‘back to its former glory’ and providing jobs and investment within the next two years, the Chancellor of the Exchequer told the Telegraph. Inverclyde Council expects the £20 million that Rachel Reeves set aside to restore...
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VANDAL SPARED JAIL OVER ‘CHILLING’ ATTACK ON ASYLUM HOTEL
A PORT Glasgow man who smashed windows at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Greenock — and later told police ‘if we don’t do something, they’ll keep coming’ — has been spared jail for the shocking crime. Alan Reford’s lawyer told a court hearing that...
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POLICE CATCH KIDS AS YOUNG AS THIRTEEN WITH DRUGS AND BOOZE
POLICE have recovered blades, booze and drugs from children as young as THIRTEEN during stop and searches carried out in Inverclyde, the Telegraph can reveal. Officers found a 15-year-old boy in possession of drugs and a bladed weapon and discovered a...
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MP DEMANDS PROBE OVER ‘MIS-SOLD FUNERAL POLICIES’
PEOPLE in Inverclyde who have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after an insurance firm pulled the plug on their protection plans may have been ‘mis-sold’ their policy, according to the area’s MP. Martin McCluskey, pictured, has demanded...
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BUTTERFINGERS: OFFENDER JAILED AFTER HE DROPPED ‘UTENSIL’
A SERIAL offender has been locked up for a year-and-a-half for carrying a blade in public after he accidentally dropped a ‘butterknife’ in a shop while drunk. Greenock Sheriff Court heard the blade was seen falling from James Cameron’s pocket while he...
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DRUG DEALER HAD SICK BABY ABUSE MATERIAL IN HOME
A DRUG dealer is facing jail time after he was caught hoarding hundreds of indecent images of children – including material depicting abuse of a months-old baby. Police seized two iPhones from the home of 27-year-old Adam Kennedy.
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