Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
September 5, 2009
PAUSING for a moment as she pouts in front of the mirror in a glittering butterfly embroidered top, blue satin skirt and six-inch heels, Lauren Tempany reflects on a life that's taken her from lanky Linlithgow Academy tomboy to sought-after fashion idol in the space of just over a decade.
Back in Scotland to model for the rebranding of swanky George Street clothes store Cruise into an exclusive ladies boutique, she's at the height of a career which began when she was spotted as 14-year-old at a Clothes Show roadshow - but she already has her deep brown eyes firmly focused on the future.
At the still tender age of 26, she's clocked up 11 years of touring the fashion capitals of the world and, with an awareness that her star will soon be eclipsed by younger models, she's making plans for her post-model career.
"Modelling really is a young person's game," she says. "I don't really have a clear idea of where I'll go after this but I'd quite like to get into film and costume, working in the wardrobe department of movie productions, but right now I can't ever see me turning down a job. I'll probably still be doing granny catalogues when I'm 60."
The last time she featured in the Evening News, she was a schoolgirl being courted by three top model agencies and still more comfortable slouching around in oversized Champion sportswear or sporting matted hair and wellies
From Page 13
down at the stables with her horse, Levi, than in high couture on the catwalk.
"I have no idea what made me stand out at the Clothes Show," she adds. "I don't think I was wearing that tatty Champion jumper but I think I had something equally horrendous on. I have bad memories of a silver bomber jacket that I'd rather forget.
"I didn't have any aspirations to be a model when I was younger - I wanted to be vet because I loved animals.
"I was 15 when I got my first job for So...? perfume, which was aimed at the teenage market. I'm sure every girl of my age will have had a bottle or will at least remember it.
"The job was fantastic. I was taken to Disneyland in Paris and I got to stay in the Disney hotel, which is every young girl's dream."
However, living the dream at such a young age can provoke resentment, and despite her model looks she was still singled for mean schoolgirl taunts by the "pretty crowd".
"I was very lucky in that I had a great group of friends who used to stick up for me when girls said I must be stuck-up or anorexic because I was a model.
"I was neither, but I was definitely not one of the 'pretty crowd'. I was tall, and skinny and a bit of a tomboy, and all of my friends were tomboys too.
"My first big professional modelling trip after I left school was to Sydney, where I stayed for two months doing campaigns for Q Catalogue and Sass & Bide jeans, and photo shoots for Australian Vogue and Harpers & Queen [now Harper's Bazaar].
"I moved to London when I was 19 and when I arrived I thought it was awful. It was busy, and noisy and dirty but I made good friends and eventually moved in with a boyfriend and managed to settle in. After about a year I discovered that I was actually beginning to like it.
" I loved being a full-time model because I got travel all over the world shooting for magazines, commercials and catalogues."
The list of countries Lauren has been to are almost too numerous to list. She's been to Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Germany, shot for Italian Vogue, rode horses in Guatemala, before moving to New York for a year to swim with the "big fish" of the fashion industry.
"I blew all of my savings on this really nice apartment in Soho," says Lauren. "That's the kind of thing you do when your 23 years old and living in the middle of the fashion capital of the world though, isn't it? Modelling can be very well paid and it's not unheard of to be paid GBP 100,000 for two days' work, but I seem to keep missing these jobs. I always seem to be second on the list."
She's modelled for Giles Deacon, Nicola Farhi, Margaret Howell, Julian McDonald, sashayed on the catwalk with Kate Moss, and hung out with Agyness Deyn and model turned TV presenter Alexa Chung.
"Modelling at the top level is a very tight-knit community and you tend to see each other at all of the same events," she says.
Her most high-profile modelling job to date was spending several months as "muse" to rebellious British designer and l'enfant terrible Alexander McQueen.
"Alexander McQueen and I had a great working relationship but after a while I started to get really fed up with all of the travelling.
"The work was really demanding and I'd have to travel to Milan twice a week, which sounds really glamorous but it didn't seem that way when I was standing alone on a Eurostar platform at midnight waiting for the train."
Based in London, having recently purchased a house there, Lauren is already making plans to return to Scotland and is presently flat-hunting in Glasgow with her art curator boyfriend.
She says: "It can be exhausting travelling around all the time and I'm starting to think that I'd like something more settled.
"I'm sure one day I'll get tired of living the city life and want to settle somewhere a bit quieter.
One day I might come back to Linlithgow to settle for good."
The new Cruise ladies' boutique is now open on George Street with brands including Prada, Vivienne Westwood and Miu Miu
Monday, 19 October 2009
ANALYSIS: Undercover with the fraud squad
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
August 31, 2009
A LABOURER who claimed more than GBP 4,000 worth of disability benefit and a mobility car was filmed carrying heavy girders around a building site - despite insisting he could not walk without a c rutch.
Michael Campbell, 43, of Prestonpans, was caught in a surveillance sting carried out by Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) fraud investigators following a tip-off by a member of the public.
His conviction was revealed during an Evening News investigation into benefit cheats, after a massive rise in convictions in and around Edinburgh over the last three years.
Other cases in recent weeks include a man who claimed nearly GBP 10,000 in disability benefit despite having two jobs - one of which included a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's office in Edinburgh, as well as a case where two women claimed more than GBP 30,000 each in single person benefits despite both living with partners on a permanent basis.
The Evening News also accompanied investigators on a number of ongoing surveillance operations in the Lothians, monitoring suspected benefit thieves unaware that they are currently under close scrutiny by the DWP.
Mr Campbell was convicted of benefit fraud at Haddington Sheriff Court earlier this month, and ordered to serve 100 hours community service and repay the GBP 4,465.95 of benefits he had wrongly claimed while working.
The DWP officer who led the investigation, who cannot be identified to safeguard future operations, said: "We set up a surveillance exercise, followed him to a building site in Elphinstone Road, Tranent, and established that he was working as a labourer.
"In his claim he said he couldn't walk without severe discomfort, over a maximum distance of 20 yards in two minutes, and that he always used an elbow crutch or a stick. We filmed Mr Campbell working around the building site, walking over uneven surfaces and carrying heavy objects.
"When we presented him with the evidence he admitted that his condition had improved."
Mr Campbell today put his fraudulent claim down to "stupidity", personal oversight and even poor advice by his disability officer.
He said: "I didn't set out to intentionally defraud anyone.
"I had a knee replacement and I would have preferred to stay off work, but I took some advice from the Job Centre and I got a job at B&Q.
"I was signed off the incapacity benefit, but I didn't get signed off the disability living allowance and I didn't receive much communication from my disability adviser regarding what I was and wasn't entitled to. I then got a job with builders Persimmon and didn't think a great deal about the benefit I was still receiving.
"I was as shocked as anyone when the investigators turned up at the site to question me about the overpayment. In the end it was all down to stupidity."
Investigations carried out by the DWP's Edinburgh team, which also covers parts of East Lothian and the Borders, were responsible for 409 successful convictions, fines and cautions in the year to March 2009 - nearly a third more than in 2006/07.
Benefits cheats in Edinburgh were also caught scamming a combined total of GBP 2.3 million in the same period, with one city resident discovered to have earned almost GBP 50,000 by falsely claiming benefits while working.
The Lothians currently has more than 30 dedicated fraud investigators carrying out multiple investigations every day.
They form part of a 3,000-strong team of fraud investigators who carry out more than 2,000 investigations a week throughout the UK.
Much of the information used in the investigations comes from tip-offs by members of the public who have called the DWP's dedicated hotline.
The phone line, on 0800 854 440 0800 854 440 , receives more than 600 calls a day from across the UK, while the DWP's website also receives an average of 200 online reports each day.
RECENT SUCCESSES FOR THE BENEFIT FRAUD INVESTIGATORS
31 July 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Gary Weston, 49, The Shore
Fraudulent claim: GBP 9532.20 + GBP 444.08
Sentence: GBP 130 fine + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a proactive "fraud drive" we conducted on employees of a company that we suspected of working while claiming benefits.
"His name appeared on a list of cleaners working for Rentokil Initial, so we called up his application form at the company and discovered that he had a reference from a second company called GBM.
"GBM had a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's offices, where Mr Weston would regularly work.
"We discovered he was working for both companies at the same time while also claiming benefits totalling GBP 9,532.20.
"We interviewed him about this and continued to investigate. Despite being interviewed by the DWP, and becoming aware that we were on to him, he made a further claim of GBP 444.08 without stating that he was still in work.
"We interviewed him again and he pleaded guilty."
Mr Weston could not be contacted for comment.
6 May 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Laura Picciti, 34, The Inch
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,129.84
Sentence: 200 hours of community service + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This mother-of-three claimed she was separated from her partner, but we received a tip-off with an allegation that he was back in the house.
"She had two children by this man over the period that she was claiming benefits as a person living alone, while her partner had applied for a car loan and other credit at her address, as well as having bank statements addressed there.
"We had a lot of background evidence already, but we set up a surveillance exercise to see if the man was actually living there, and we observed him leaving the house every day over a three-week period.
"When presented with the evidence she pleaded guilty."
6 May 2009: Linlithgow Sheriff Court
Jennifer Collier, 31, East Calder
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,000
Sentence: Seven months in prison + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a joint investigation with West Lothian Council.
"We already had some evidence that she was living with someone while claiming income support, housing benefit and council tax relief as a single person, mainly a joint bank account at her address.
"We discovered that he was working so we contacted his employer and took statements from them that showed us that he recorded Jennifer Collier's house as his home address.
"We conducted surveillance which recorded him leaving for work from her house on a regular basis.
"Once the surveillance footage was presented to her she admitted she'd been making bogus claims dating back to July 1998. The custodial sentence reflected the length of time this woman had allowed the bogus claim to continue."
High-tech operation akin to James Bond
THEY have an array of gadgets that wouldn't look out of place in a James Bond film.
From buttonhole cameras to night-vision goggles and a mobile control room with a bank of screens and video equipment, the operation to catch out benefit cheats in the Lothians is certainly high-tech.
"Our day can start as early as 4.30am and can often go on until 8pm the same day," says Edinburgh fraud investigator Frank, as he makes his way to his first "customer" of the day - a "living together" scam involving a woman who has been living with a partner despite claiming single-person benefits.
"We used to call the subjects of our investigations 'claimants', but the DWP decided that 'customers' sounded more friendly. We get up early and set up our equipment in order to establish a pattern. If we see the same person leaving a house every day or so over, say, a three-week period, we'll have a fair suspicion that the partner is living there full-time.
"While we do a lot of surveillance in the vehicles, some of our work involves sitting in the pub. Sometimes we'll get a call that someone's been bragging loudly in the pub about the amount of money they're cheating out of the benefits system.
"That's where our female surveillance officers come in very handy, as we can often go down in pairs wearing a buttonhole camera, and look like any other couple enjoying a quiet drink together."
The range of technologies available to DWP staff is expanding all the time - and they don't shy away from social networking sites or virtual mapping such as Google Streetview.
Meanwhile, the excuses they hear from "customers" caught in the act are equally diverse.
"The amount of information people put online about themselves these days is just mental," says fellow investigator Jack. "We were investigating a girl for a living-together scam, and she had her whole life on Bebo, including the boyfriend she was living with and the expensive holiday they were about to take together.
"A lot of people do try to deny they've been living with someone, even when there are bank account details, credit trails and DVLA details of their partner, but they usually own up when presented with the surveillance evidence."
However, DWP surveillance is used sparingly and is tightly controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, Frank explains, as he is forced to break off a surveillance when it crosses the path of a school playing field.
"We're very careful to avoid what we term 'collateral surveillance' - filming innocent people going about their day - and we're especially sensitive whenever children are involved."
Edinburgh Evening News
August 31, 2009
A LABOURER who claimed more than GBP 4,000 worth of disability benefit and a mobility car was filmed carrying heavy girders around a building site - despite insisting he could not walk without a c rutch.
Michael Campbell, 43, of Prestonpans, was caught in a surveillance sting carried out by Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) fraud investigators following a tip-off by a member of the public.
His conviction was revealed during an Evening News investigation into benefit cheats, after a massive rise in convictions in and around Edinburgh over the last three years.
Other cases in recent weeks include a man who claimed nearly GBP 10,000 in disability benefit despite having two jobs - one of which included a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's office in Edinburgh, as well as a case where two women claimed more than GBP 30,000 each in single person benefits despite both living with partners on a permanent basis.
The Evening News also accompanied investigators on a number of ongoing surveillance operations in the Lothians, monitoring suspected benefit thieves unaware that they are currently under close scrutiny by the DWP.
Mr Campbell was convicted of benefit fraud at Haddington Sheriff Court earlier this month, and ordered to serve 100 hours community service and repay the GBP 4,465.95 of benefits he had wrongly claimed while working.
The DWP officer who led the investigation, who cannot be identified to safeguard future operations, said: "We set up a surveillance exercise, followed him to a building site in Elphinstone Road, Tranent, and established that he was working as a labourer.
"In his claim he said he couldn't walk without severe discomfort, over a maximum distance of 20 yards in two minutes, and that he always used an elbow crutch or a stick. We filmed Mr Campbell working around the building site, walking over uneven surfaces and carrying heavy objects.
"When we presented him with the evidence he admitted that his condition had improved."
Mr Campbell today put his fraudulent claim down to "stupidity", personal oversight and even poor advice by his disability officer.
He said: "I didn't set out to intentionally defraud anyone.
"I had a knee replacement and I would have preferred to stay off work, but I took some advice from the Job Centre and I got a job at B&Q.
"I was signed off the incapacity benefit, but I didn't get signed off the disability living allowance and I didn't receive much communication from my disability adviser regarding what I was and wasn't entitled to. I then got a job with builders Persimmon and didn't think a great deal about the benefit I was still receiving.
"I was as shocked as anyone when the investigators turned up at the site to question me about the overpayment. In the end it was all down to stupidity."
Investigations carried out by the DWP's Edinburgh team, which also covers parts of East Lothian and the Borders, were responsible for 409 successful convictions, fines and cautions in the year to March 2009 - nearly a third more than in 2006/07.
Benefits cheats in Edinburgh were also caught scamming a combined total of GBP 2.3 million in the same period, with one city resident discovered to have earned almost GBP 50,000 by falsely claiming benefits while working.
The Lothians currently has more than 30 dedicated fraud investigators carrying out multiple investigations every day.
They form part of a 3,000-strong team of fraud investigators who carry out more than 2,000 investigations a week throughout the UK.
Much of the information used in the investigations comes from tip-offs by members of the public who have called the DWP's dedicated hotline.
The phone line, on 0800 854 440 0800 854 440 , receives more than 600 calls a day from across the UK, while the DWP's website also receives an average of 200 online reports each day.
RECENT SUCCESSES FOR THE BENEFIT FRAUD INVESTIGATORS
31 July 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Gary Weston, 49, The Shore
Fraudulent claim: GBP 9532.20 + GBP 444.08
Sentence: GBP 130 fine + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a proactive "fraud drive" we conducted on employees of a company that we suspected of working while claiming benefits.
"His name appeared on a list of cleaners working for Rentokil Initial, so we called up his application form at the company and discovered that he had a reference from a second company called GBM.
"GBM had a contract to clean the Procurator Fiscal's offices, where Mr Weston would regularly work.
"We discovered he was working for both companies at the same time while also claiming benefits totalling GBP 9,532.20.
"We interviewed him about this and continued to investigate. Despite being interviewed by the DWP, and becoming aware that we were on to him, he made a further claim of GBP 444.08 without stating that he was still in work.
"We interviewed him again and he pleaded guilty."
Mr Weston could not be contacted for comment.
6 May 2009: Edinburgh Sheriff Court
Laura Picciti, 34, The Inch
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,129.84
Sentence: 200 hours of community service + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This mother-of-three claimed she was separated from her partner, but we received a tip-off with an allegation that he was back in the house.
"She had two children by this man over the period that she was claiming benefits as a person living alone, while her partner had applied for a car loan and other credit at her address, as well as having bank statements addressed there.
"We had a lot of background evidence already, but we set up a surveillance exercise to see if the man was actually living there, and we observed him leaving the house every day over a three-week period.
"When presented with the evidence she pleaded guilty."
6 May 2009: Linlithgow Sheriff Court
Jennifer Collier, 31, East Calder
Fraudulent claim: GBP 30,000
Sentence: Seven months in prison + repayment of overspend + criminal record
The investigator said: "This was part of a joint investigation with West Lothian Council.
"We already had some evidence that she was living with someone while claiming income support, housing benefit and council tax relief as a single person, mainly a joint bank account at her address.
"We discovered that he was working so we contacted his employer and took statements from them that showed us that he recorded Jennifer Collier's house as his home address.
"We conducted surveillance which recorded him leaving for work from her house on a regular basis.
"Once the surveillance footage was presented to her she admitted she'd been making bogus claims dating back to July 1998. The custodial sentence reflected the length of time this woman had allowed the bogus claim to continue."
High-tech operation akin to James Bond
THEY have an array of gadgets that wouldn't look out of place in a James Bond film.
From buttonhole cameras to night-vision goggles and a mobile control room with a bank of screens and video equipment, the operation to catch out benefit cheats in the Lothians is certainly high-tech.
"Our day can start as early as 4.30am and can often go on until 8pm the same day," says Edinburgh fraud investigator Frank, as he makes his way to his first "customer" of the day - a "living together" scam involving a woman who has been living with a partner despite claiming single-person benefits.
"We used to call the subjects of our investigations 'claimants', but the DWP decided that 'customers' sounded more friendly. We get up early and set up our equipment in order to establish a pattern. If we see the same person leaving a house every day or so over, say, a three-week period, we'll have a fair suspicion that the partner is living there full-time.
"While we do a lot of surveillance in the vehicles, some of our work involves sitting in the pub. Sometimes we'll get a call that someone's been bragging loudly in the pub about the amount of money they're cheating out of the benefits system.
"That's where our female surveillance officers come in very handy, as we can often go down in pairs wearing a buttonhole camera, and look like any other couple enjoying a quiet drink together."
The range of technologies available to DWP staff is expanding all the time - and they don't shy away from social networking sites or virtual mapping such as Google Streetview.
Meanwhile, the excuses they hear from "customers" caught in the act are equally diverse.
"The amount of information people put online about themselves these days is just mental," says fellow investigator Jack. "We were investigating a girl for a living-together scam, and she had her whole life on Bebo, including the boyfriend she was living with and the expensive holiday they were about to take together.
"A lot of people do try to deny they've been living with someone, even when there are bank account details, credit trails and DVLA details of their partner, but they usually own up when presented with the surveillance evidence."
However, DWP surveillance is used sparingly and is tightly controlled by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, Frank explains, as he is forced to break off a surveillance when it crosses the path of a school playing field.
"We're very careful to avoid what we term 'collateral surveillance' - filming innocent people going about their day - and we're especially sensitive whenever children are involved."
NEWS: How To Kill Friends and Influence People
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
August 25, 2009
HE'S no stranger to raising the dead for laughs.
Now actor Simon Pegg has been lined-up for a role in a new comic-horror about Edinburgh's most famous criminals - Burke and Hare.
Horror director John Landis, the man behind An American Werewolf in London and Michael Jackson's iconic Thriller video, will mark his return to filmmaking after an 11-year hiatus with his own black-comedic take on the story.
The film, telling the tale of the 19th century West Port murderers who sold their victims' bodies to Edinburgh Medical College doctor Robert Knox, is due to start shooting next spring in Edinburgh.
Speaking to horror fans at a US Monster-Mania Convention in New Jersey on Saturday, Landis reportedly said that Pegg had already signed on for the role.
Pegg became a household name for his role in zombie spoof Shaun of the Dead, which sent-up a series of zombie flicks by another horror legend George A Romero.
The Gloucester-born star's biggest role to date has been starship engineer Scotty in this year's Star Trek revival, which saw him adopt a Scottish-accent that he practised on his wife Maureen, who is from East Kilbride.
However, historical purists will insist that he doesn't revive the accent for the new Burke and Hare film, as the two killers were both Irish immigrants.
When the movie was first announced last November, Irish star Colin Farrell and Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor were both tipped for the lead roles.
However, news of Pegg's involvement has kicked the online rumour-mill into gear with fans speculating that his long-term comedy sidekick Nick Frost - who partnered him in cult TV comedy Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, cop-spoof Hot Fuzz and forthcoming comic-geek movie Paul - could be the Burke to Pegg's Hare.
A spokeswoman for production company Ealing Studios said it was too early to comment on casting, while Simon Pegg's agent also declined to comment.
Ros Davis, production liaison manager with council-funded film location advisors Edinburgh Film Focus, confirmed that they had been in consultation with the film's production company about shooting in Edinburgh, but couldn't reveal the details of locations for filming.
She added: "All dealings with movie producers are protected by corporate confidentiality, so we can't reveal anything that we know about the film at this time.
"However, it's Edinburgh Film Focus's job to attract big productions to Edinburgh, first of all for the money that they spend while they're here and also for the knock-on impact they have on attracting tourists.
"Obviously a production like Burke and Hare, which is very much tied in with Edinburgh history, will attract a great deal of tourist interest."
STORY TOLD A FEW TIMES BEFORE ..
The Body Snatcher (1945) - Adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1884 semi-fictional take on the Burke and Hare legend of the same name, starring horror legends Boris (Frankenstein) Karloff and Bela (Dracula) Lugosi.
* The Greed of William Hart (original title The Crimes of Burke and Hare) (1948) - Censors objected so strongly to this dramatisation of the murders - starring the appropriately named Tod Slaughter - that they demanded costly soundtrack overdubs, changing Burke to Hart, Hare to Moore and Knox to Cox.
* The Flesh and the Fiends (1960) - Hammer-horror stalwart Peter Cushing played Dr Knox alongside Donald Pleasence's Hare. Pleasence will be known to younger fans as psychatrist Dr Loomis in Halloween.
* Burke and Hare (1972) - This less well known retelling of the tale featured several bit-part British actors.
* The Doctor and the Devils (1985) - Timothy Dalton, who starred with Pegg in Hot Fuzz, plays Dr Rock in this Burke & Hare inspired tale, featuring Twiggy.
Edinburgh Evening News
August 25, 2009
HE'S no stranger to raising the dead for laughs.
Now actor Simon Pegg has been lined-up for a role in a new comic-horror about Edinburgh's most famous criminals - Burke and Hare.
Horror director John Landis, the man behind An American Werewolf in London and Michael Jackson's iconic Thriller video, will mark his return to filmmaking after an 11-year hiatus with his own black-comedic take on the story.
The film, telling the tale of the 19th century West Port murderers who sold their victims' bodies to Edinburgh Medical College doctor Robert Knox, is due to start shooting next spring in Edinburgh.
Speaking to horror fans at a US Monster-Mania Convention in New Jersey on Saturday, Landis reportedly said that Pegg had already signed on for the role.
Pegg became a household name for his role in zombie spoof Shaun of the Dead, which sent-up a series of zombie flicks by another horror legend George A Romero.
The Gloucester-born star's biggest role to date has been starship engineer Scotty in this year's Star Trek revival, which saw him adopt a Scottish-accent that he practised on his wife Maureen, who is from East Kilbride.
However, historical purists will insist that he doesn't revive the accent for the new Burke and Hare film, as the two killers were both Irish immigrants.
When the movie was first announced last November, Irish star Colin Farrell and Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor were both tipped for the lead roles.
However, news of Pegg's involvement has kicked the online rumour-mill into gear with fans speculating that his long-term comedy sidekick Nick Frost - who partnered him in cult TV comedy Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, cop-spoof Hot Fuzz and forthcoming comic-geek movie Paul - could be the Burke to Pegg's Hare.
A spokeswoman for production company Ealing Studios said it was too early to comment on casting, while Simon Pegg's agent also declined to comment.
Ros Davis, production liaison manager with council-funded film location advisors Edinburgh Film Focus, confirmed that they had been in consultation with the film's production company about shooting in Edinburgh, but couldn't reveal the details of locations for filming.
She added: "All dealings with movie producers are protected by corporate confidentiality, so we can't reveal anything that we know about the film at this time.
"However, it's Edinburgh Film Focus's job to attract big productions to Edinburgh, first of all for the money that they spend while they're here and also for the knock-on impact they have on attracting tourists.
"Obviously a production like Burke and Hare, which is very much tied in with Edinburgh history, will attract a great deal of tourist interest."
STORY TOLD A FEW TIMES BEFORE ..
The Body Snatcher (1945) - Adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1884 semi-fictional take on the Burke and Hare legend of the same name, starring horror legends Boris (Frankenstein) Karloff and Bela (Dracula) Lugosi.
* The Greed of William Hart (original title The Crimes of Burke and Hare) (1948) - Censors objected so strongly to this dramatisation of the murders - starring the appropriately named Tod Slaughter - that they demanded costly soundtrack overdubs, changing Burke to Hart, Hare to Moore and Knox to Cox.
* The Flesh and the Fiends (1960) - Hammer-horror stalwart Peter Cushing played Dr Knox alongside Donald Pleasence's Hare. Pleasence will be known to younger fans as psychatrist Dr Loomis in Halloween.
* Burke and Hare (1972) - This less well known retelling of the tale featured several bit-part British actors.
* The Doctor and the Devils (1985) - Timothy Dalton, who starred with Pegg in Hot Fuzz, plays Dr Rock in this Burke & Hare inspired tale, featuring Twiggy.
FEATURE: Stitched up!
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
August 24, 2009
DOZENS of surgery patients have been stitched up with medical objects still inside their bodies over the last five years in the Lothians.
Government figures show that at least 29 people were admitted to NHS Lothian hospitals with objects left inside them after surgery since 2004, the second highest number in Scotland.
Last year, a total of 59 Scottish patients were found to have medical objects still inside, with six objects left inside patients in the Lothians.
It has also been revealed that one patient sued NHS Lothian in 2006, pocketing GBP 2,000 in compensation after an object was found inside her body after surgery.
Dr Charles Swainson, medical director at NHS Lothian, today maintained that such incidents only occurred in a tiny minority of cases, and the number is dropping each year.
He said: "NHS Lothian is the second largest health board in Scotland and performed a total of around 191,000 operations last year. Of this total, there were six cases where an object was retained.
"Anything left behind in surgery is deeply regrettable, and while in the majority of cases this does not cause any complications, we are not complacent and are working with the Scottish Patient Safety Programme to make procedures even safer.
"For each incident, we carry out a full investigation to establish what happened and prevent a repeat. We also have strict policies in place which demand that every instrument and swab is counted by two people at the beginning of the procedure and again before each cavity is closed."
Although the exact nature of the objects left behind has not been divulged, studies have found that around two-thirds of objects recovered are swabs, with the rest being medical tools.
Objects are most regularly left behind during emergency procedures, when time is of the essence and surgical staff are under the most pressure.
Other risk factors included unexpected changes in procedure during a scheduled operation, and operating on larger patients where there is more tissue for objects to get lost.
However, despite the risk factors, patient groups insist that there is no excuse for losing objects if surgical staff follow tried-and-tested practices.
Jean Turner, director of Scotland Patients Associations and a former anaesthetist, said: "When I was in the operating theatre in the mid-1970s, every piece of medical equipment was accounted for, right down to counting the swabs when opening a pack of 12 to make sure an extra one hadn't dropped in there.
"What is most worrying about these figures over the last five years is that they've remained so consistent, there's no sign of them dropping off and it beggars belief these mistakes are still being made so consistently without some new procedures to bring the numbers down."
Edinburgh Evening News
August 24, 2009
DOZENS of surgery patients have been stitched up with medical objects still inside their bodies over the last five years in the Lothians.
Government figures show that at least 29 people were admitted to NHS Lothian hospitals with objects left inside them after surgery since 2004, the second highest number in Scotland.
Last year, a total of 59 Scottish patients were found to have medical objects still inside, with six objects left inside patients in the Lothians.
It has also been revealed that one patient sued NHS Lothian in 2006, pocketing GBP 2,000 in compensation after an object was found inside her body after surgery.
Dr Charles Swainson, medical director at NHS Lothian, today maintained that such incidents only occurred in a tiny minority of cases, and the number is dropping each year.
He said: "NHS Lothian is the second largest health board in Scotland and performed a total of around 191,000 operations last year. Of this total, there were six cases where an object was retained.
"Anything left behind in surgery is deeply regrettable, and while in the majority of cases this does not cause any complications, we are not complacent and are working with the Scottish Patient Safety Programme to make procedures even safer.
"For each incident, we carry out a full investigation to establish what happened and prevent a repeat. We also have strict policies in place which demand that every instrument and swab is counted by two people at the beginning of the procedure and again before each cavity is closed."
Although the exact nature of the objects left behind has not been divulged, studies have found that around two-thirds of objects recovered are swabs, with the rest being medical tools.
Objects are most regularly left behind during emergency procedures, when time is of the essence and surgical staff are under the most pressure.
Other risk factors included unexpected changes in procedure during a scheduled operation, and operating on larger patients where there is more tissue for objects to get lost.
However, despite the risk factors, patient groups insist that there is no excuse for losing objects if surgical staff follow tried-and-tested practices.
Jean Turner, director of Scotland Patients Associations and a former anaesthetist, said: "When I was in the operating theatre in the mid-1970s, every piece of medical equipment was accounted for, right down to counting the swabs when opening a pack of 12 to make sure an extra one hadn't dropped in there.
"What is most worrying about these figures over the last five years is that they've remained so consistent, there's no sign of them dropping off and it beggars belief these mistakes are still being made so consistently without some new procedures to bring the numbers down."
NEWS: Final curtain for X Factor wannabe
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
August 13, 2009
DEVASTATED family and friends of a young singer who came within touching distance of X Factor fame are looking for answers after he was found dead in his flat.
Jason Pauley, 29, was found at his home in King's Road, Portobello, last week.
Although police say the death was not suspicious, the cause of death will not be known for several weeks until toxicology reports come back.
Mr Pauley's family is keen to trace an unknown acquaintance who was thought to have been with the father-of-one in his flat on the night he died.
Sister Leanne Pipskyj, 32, said: "He was with some unknown character when he died but he seems to have disappeared. The autopsy came back inconclusive so his death is still a total mystery."
Mr Pauley was a well-known face on Rose Street, where he used to busk with his guitar under the name Scot Rogers. He made it through to the second round of auditions for X Factor 2008, but he almost missed his break after an altercation with his partner landed him in court, and he was remanded in custody facing charges of assault and breach of the peace.
Mr Pauley broke down in the dock when the sheriff refused bail, but partner Vikki Harkness, 31, later dropped the charges and he was set free to perform in front of Simon Cowell and his team of X Factor judges.
Miss Harkness added: "He didn't make it through. I think the nerves just got to him. It wasn't just Cowell and the judges he was performing in front of, it was a whole team of cameramen and sound people and he just cracked under the pressure.
"He was a fabulous singer, though. We met at a party about two and a half years ago and he performed for me with his guitar. He taught me a few chords, and he had the gift of the gab so I was totally taken in by his charm."
Miss Harkness will now have to bring up the couple's 10-month-old son Ashton alone.
She added: "How do you tell a ten-month-old baby that his father is dead?
"He'll probably be too young to remember him but I'm going to try to keep him alive through photographs.
"Ashton's already learning that daddy's the man in the photo. Whenever we say to him, 'Where's daddy?', he points to the picture so he'll hopefully get to know him through that.
"He had his faults and we did have a couple of fights, but he was a brilliant dad and he was well liked. He was the best."
Mr Pauley was born in Leicester in 1980, the son of Ronnie Pauley and his Edinburgh-born wife Linda.
Sister Leanne said: "Jason was very much inspired by his dad, who was also a musician and encouraged Jason to pick up the guitar.
"His dad died in tragic circumstances and Jason came back to Edinburgh and made it his home.
"He was a fantastic singer-songwriter and he finally plucked up the courage to get himself down to Rose Street and perform in front of people."
The family described Jason as "the hardest working busker in Edinburgh", and have placed a notice beside his old performing patch outside The Grog pub, on Rose Street, inviting fans and fellow buskers to his funeral at Thomas Brown Funeral Home on Monday, 17 August.
Edinburgh Evening News
August 13, 2009
DEVASTATED family and friends of a young singer who came within touching distance of X Factor fame are looking for answers after he was found dead in his flat.
Jason Pauley, 29, was found at his home in King's Road, Portobello, last week.
Although police say the death was not suspicious, the cause of death will not be known for several weeks until toxicology reports come back.
Mr Pauley's family is keen to trace an unknown acquaintance who was thought to have been with the father-of-one in his flat on the night he died.
Sister Leanne Pipskyj, 32, said: "He was with some unknown character when he died but he seems to have disappeared. The autopsy came back inconclusive so his death is still a total mystery."
Mr Pauley was a well-known face on Rose Street, where he used to busk with his guitar under the name Scot Rogers. He made it through to the second round of auditions for X Factor 2008, but he almost missed his break after an altercation with his partner landed him in court, and he was remanded in custody facing charges of assault and breach of the peace.
Mr Pauley broke down in the dock when the sheriff refused bail, but partner Vikki Harkness, 31, later dropped the charges and he was set free to perform in front of Simon Cowell and his team of X Factor judges.
Miss Harkness added: "He didn't make it through. I think the nerves just got to him. It wasn't just Cowell and the judges he was performing in front of, it was a whole team of cameramen and sound people and he just cracked under the pressure.
"He was a fabulous singer, though. We met at a party about two and a half years ago and he performed for me with his guitar. He taught me a few chords, and he had the gift of the gab so I was totally taken in by his charm."
Miss Harkness will now have to bring up the couple's 10-month-old son Ashton alone.
She added: "How do you tell a ten-month-old baby that his father is dead?
"He'll probably be too young to remember him but I'm going to try to keep him alive through photographs.
"Ashton's already learning that daddy's the man in the photo. Whenever we say to him, 'Where's daddy?', he points to the picture so he'll hopefully get to know him through that.
"He had his faults and we did have a couple of fights, but he was a brilliant dad and he was well liked. He was the best."
Mr Pauley was born in Leicester in 1980, the son of Ronnie Pauley and his Edinburgh-born wife Linda.
Sister Leanne said: "Jason was very much inspired by his dad, who was also a musician and encouraged Jason to pick up the guitar.
"His dad died in tragic circumstances and Jason came back to Edinburgh and made it his home.
"He was a fantastic singer-songwriter and he finally plucked up the courage to get himself down to Rose Street and perform in front of people."
The family described Jason as "the hardest working busker in Edinburgh", and have placed a notice beside his old performing patch outside The Grog pub, on Rose Street, inviting fans and fellow buskers to his funeral at Thomas Brown Funeral Home on Monday, 17 August.
SPORT: Paul McGrillen RIP
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
July 31, 2009
TRIBUTES were today paid to former SPL striker Paul McGrillen by his Bathgate team-mates.
The 37-year-old's body was discovered at his home in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on Wednesday. Police said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
Today, his colleagues said he always gave 100 per cent and had intended to "go out in a blaze of glory" in his final season with Bathgate Thistle.
He was due to play in Bathgate's match against Broxburn Athletic, which was cancelled as mark of respect and to allow the team to adjust to the loss.
Club secretary Syd McAlpine paid tribute to "a likeable guy . . . who could never put up with second best".
He added: "The news of his death has hit us badly. He always gave 100 per cent on the field.
"He would go out on the park and just run and run and run. He always kept himself fit, and was always keen to play his part in the team game, which is a very important thing in football.
"Paul was a likeable guy, and although he could keep himself to himself, he was always inquisitive as to how other people were keeping and what people were doing."
McGrillen joined Bathgate Thistle from Bellshill Athletic, where he was player-manager, in 2007.
Mr McAlpine added: "He came to Bathgate because he wanted to, as he put it, go into a big junior team. In his first season, he helped us win the Scottish Junior Cup by scoring in the final.
"He stayed with us last year and indicated that this would be his last year in football, and that he intended to spend it with Bathgate Thistle because he thought so much of the club.
"When he came along to the football he would often bring his son Joshua on a Saturday afternoon, and to some of the training sessions, and I think he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.
"Paul said he intended to go out in a blaze of glory this season and that he was going to score a good number of goals, both for himself and for the club.
"He was our top scorer in his first season with us, and he was just joking with me recently that this season he would go out and do even better than that. Now, sadly, he won't get that chance."
He leaves a wife, Michelle, and children Joshua, ten, and Chloe, six.
McGrillen was a member of the Motherwell squad that won the Scottish Cup in 1991, although he did not play in the final.
McGrillen made nearly 100 appearances for Motherwell and scored 13 goals.
He also had spells with Falkirk, Airdrie, East Fife, Stirling Albion, Partick Thistle, Clydebank, Stenhousemuir and Stranraer. He played for Bathgate against Motherwell in a friendly last week.
A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: "There would appear to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a full report will be sent to the procurator fiscal."
Edinburgh Evening News
July 31, 2009
TRIBUTES were today paid to former SPL striker Paul McGrillen by his Bathgate team-mates.
The 37-year-old's body was discovered at his home in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on Wednesday. Police said there did not appear to be any suspicious circumstances.
Today, his colleagues said he always gave 100 per cent and had intended to "go out in a blaze of glory" in his final season with Bathgate Thistle.
He was due to play in Bathgate's match against Broxburn Athletic, which was cancelled as mark of respect and to allow the team to adjust to the loss.
Club secretary Syd McAlpine paid tribute to "a likeable guy . . . who could never put up with second best".
He added: "The news of his death has hit us badly. He always gave 100 per cent on the field.
"He would go out on the park and just run and run and run. He always kept himself fit, and was always keen to play his part in the team game, which is a very important thing in football.
"Paul was a likeable guy, and although he could keep himself to himself, he was always inquisitive as to how other people were keeping and what people were doing."
McGrillen joined Bathgate Thistle from Bellshill Athletic, where he was player-manager, in 2007.
Mr McAlpine added: "He came to Bathgate because he wanted to, as he put it, go into a big junior team. In his first season, he helped us win the Scottish Junior Cup by scoring in the final.
"He stayed with us last year and indicated that this would be his last year in football, and that he intended to spend it with Bathgate Thistle because he thought so much of the club.
"When he came along to the football he would often bring his son Joshua on a Saturday afternoon, and to some of the training sessions, and I think he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps.
"Paul said he intended to go out in a blaze of glory this season and that he was going to score a good number of goals, both for himself and for the club.
"He was our top scorer in his first season with us, and he was just joking with me recently that this season he would go out and do even better than that. Now, sadly, he won't get that chance."
He leaves a wife, Michelle, and children Joshua, ten, and Chloe, six.
McGrillen was a member of the Motherwell squad that won the Scottish Cup in 1991, although he did not play in the final.
McGrillen made nearly 100 appearances for Motherwell and scored 13 goals.
He also had spells with Falkirk, Airdrie, East Fife, Stirling Albion, Partick Thistle, Clydebank, Stenhousemuir and Stranraer. He played for Bathgate against Motherwell in a friendly last week.
A Strathclyde Police spokeswoman said: "There would appear to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death and a full report will be sent to the procurator fiscal."
SPORT: News of Livingston FC's demise turned out to be slightly premature...
Mark McLaughlin
Edinburgh Evening News
July 30, 2009
IT ALL started with a spark for Livingston FC when the club began life 66 years ago as the works team of an Edinburgh electronics company.
Today, the club - winners of the Scottish League Cup just five years ago - look to be fizzling out, killed off by unpaid rent and electricity bills.
While the GBP 32,000 owed to Scottish Power paled in comparison to the GBP 330,000 they owed their landlords, West Lothian Council, it was the electricity bill that provided the first dramatic signs of trouble when the power company turned out the lights at Almondvale Stadium in June.
There was plenty of heat outside Almondvale yesterday, though, as fans confronted chairman Angelo Massone, angrily demanding he sell his controlling interest in the club and allow them to survive.
Massone arrived at 12.30pm - half an hour past the midday deadline set by administrators for the Roman lawyer to respond - waving a wad of cash which he told the fans that he was going to deliver to "save the club".
"He told us it was GBP 17,000 that he was going to use to pay the players," said a sceptical 16-year-old Whitburn Academy pupil Kieran Tennant, who said he had cancelled a holiday in Spain to come and implore Massone to see sense.
"I just wanted to explain to him that it doesn't matter what he does, that the only way to save the club is to walk away."
With administrator-appointed interim manager Donald McGruther starting to lay off non-playing staff, only a Roy of the Rovers-style intervention can save Livingston now.
That plight marks the end of a 66-year roller-coaster ride that started at the Ferranti electronics factory in Crewe Toll, passed through several Edinburgh grounds before settling on a permanent home at Meadowbank Stadium, before taking a step into the unknown at Livingston.
A succession of unlikely white knights have stepped in to keep the club on course, ending with a stubborn Italian lawyer whose refusal to accept the administrator's token fee of GBP 25,000 for the debt-ridden club looks set to finally consign Livingston to history.
Formed as Ferranti Thistle in 1943 by a team of non-conscripted wartime electronics workers, within ten years the team were playing in the East of Scotland League.
The demise of Third Lanark in 1967 would eventually open the door to the Scottish Football League, who granted Thistle entry with league reconstruction in 1974 - on condition they remove Ferranti from their name to meet strict league anti-advertising rules.
Several names were considered and rejected,
but with admission to the league coinciding with a move to the city's new Meadowbank Stadium, the name Meadowbank Thistle was chosen.
In September 1974, a crowd of 4,000 turned out to watch Thistle play their first match as Scotland's newest league club at Meadowbank Stadium, but by the late 1970s the crowds had dwindled.
Just 80 people turned out for a league match against Stenhousemuir in 1979, and attendances remained poor, prompting the move to Livingston.
Meadowbank peaked in 1988 when they finished Division One runners-up, but by the mid-1990s the club was in crisis, with falling gates and a financial black hole.
The solution put forward by then chairman Bill Hunter was to move to Livingston, a plan that was met with stormy protests. Despite the opposition, the move went through in 1995.
Their first game at Almondvale saw a sell-out attendance of 4,000 but this soon settled to an average of about 1,800.
"I was the last manager at Meadowbank and I remember standing at Almondvale watching the steel framework of the new stands being erected - and what a vision that was," recalls the club's first and most celebrated manager, Jim Leishman.
"The first game was a sell-out and there were people standing outside that couldn't get in, and while the attendances did go down slightly we finished that year as Third Division champions which was quite an achievement."
However, behind the scenes things weren't so rosy and in 1997 the club revealed GBP 400,000 of unpaid rent arrears.
Stadium landlords West Lothian Council threatened to close the ground over the unpaid debt until the chairman, struggling with angina and unable to shoulder the debt any more, handed the club to the trio of Dominic Keane, Willie Haughey and John McGuinness.
The former were ex-Celtic FC directors keen to have a flutter in West Lothian, largely financed by lottery millionaire McGuinness who decided to invest part of his GBP 10 million fortune.
The sale was to herald a boom time for the club, as Livingston stormed into third place in the Scottish Premier League and sealed themselves a spot in Europe, while the board embarked on ambitious plans for a GBP 14m hotel development and leisure complex, a GBP 1.5m extension to the club's Nitespot nightclub and an expansion of its conference facilities.
While Leishman - now in his second stint as manager - wasn't kept abreast of the backroom dealings, the figures were certainly adding up on the park.
He added: "We sold David Fernandez for GBP 1.25m and I think we got somewhere in the region of GBP 1.1m for finishing third in the SPL. We went from nowhere to gaining a spot in Europe in the space of seven years, which is a singular feat that no club is ever going to match.
"I remember fans telling me how they were already saving their pennies ready to go and see them play FC Vaduz, which is amazing considering we had to build our fanbase up by going round the schools and getting the kids interested."
One of those schoolgirls was Claire McBey, now a 25-year-old printing company director, who still lives in Livingston.
Claire was 11 when she watched the first game at Almondvale, and yesterday stood outside the ground to watch the potential demise.
She said: "I got a free ticket for the game that day and I was hooked. I can't believe this might be it for the club.
"I know three people who work for the club and they were all told that it was going out of business at the same time as the fans, and now they're going to lose their jobs. Most of the staff are fans of the club as well so they're all devastated."
The events are the culmination of a torrid five-year spell which saw the club's bankers withhold the credit funding its stadium expansion plans in 2004, leading to a buyout by Irish entrepreneur Pearse Flynn.
Flynn again failed to steady the ship and sold his stake to Angelo Massone's Livi Dream company for GBP 1 in June 2008, but the club's finances remained precarious and last week the Court of Session appointed administrators Mazars after West Lothian Council took legal action to reclaim GBP 330,000.
"The club has a grand total of GBP 35 in the bank," said McGruther, who is expected to confirm the club's demise at a meeting with the SFL this afternoon. "I had to contribute some of my own money this week to pay for the team bus.
"Meanwhile, the total debt that the club owes is around GBP 1.8m. I have an interested party who is willing to step in if Mr Massone decides to relinquish his share, who is willing to pay an amount equating to 10p in the pound to clear the club's debts.
"However, this money is dependent on the club being allowed to remain in the First Division, as it is a large amount of money to invest in a club that will be cast down into the Third Division.
"If the only way that the club can survive is to start again from the bottom, then the interested parties will simply walk away and the club will cease to exist."
Shock cup win was finest day
FOR most fans, the club's finest hour was when, against all expectations, they beat Hibs 2-0 in the CIS Cup Final in March 2004.
Hibs had beaten Celtic and Rangers on their way to the final, but Livi had proved resolutely stubborn in their previous league meetings that season.
Livingston had already beaten Hibs twice that season without conceding a single goal.
Just five minutes into the second half on cup final day, Derek Lilley scored the first, followed by another by wing-back Jamie McAllister just two minutes later.
Instead of the cup being paraded down the antique splendour of Princes Street towards Easter Road, it made its way to Almondvale Stadium, framed by its new-town shopping centres and fast-food outlets.
THISTLE THAT BLOOMED THEN DIED IN THE DARK
1943 Ferranti Thistle formed by workers of the Crewe Toll Ferranti electronics plant.
1953 The club joins the East of Scotland League.
1969 Move to City Park, Ferry Rd.
1974 Joins the Scottish Football League, moves ground and becomes Meadowbank Thistle.
1986/87 Division 2 champions.
1987/88 Division 1 runners-up.
1995 Moves to Almondvale, becomes Livingston FC.
1995/96 Division 3 Champions
1998/99 Division 2 Champions
2000/01 Division 1 Champions
2001/02 SPL third place.
2004 League Cup Champions.
2004 Irish entrepreneur Pearse Flynn takes over.
June 2008 Club sold to Italian lawyer Angelo Massoni for GBP 1.
June 2009 Electricity cut off by Scottish Power due to an unpaid bill of GBP 32,000.
July 2009 Administrators called in over unpaid GBP 330,000 rent bill Liquidation proceedings begin.
Edinburgh Evening News
July 30, 2009
IT ALL started with a spark for Livingston FC when the club began life 66 years ago as the works team of an Edinburgh electronics company.
Today, the club - winners of the Scottish League Cup just five years ago - look to be fizzling out, killed off by unpaid rent and electricity bills.
While the GBP 32,000 owed to Scottish Power paled in comparison to the GBP 330,000 they owed their landlords, West Lothian Council, it was the electricity bill that provided the first dramatic signs of trouble when the power company turned out the lights at Almondvale Stadium in June.
There was plenty of heat outside Almondvale yesterday, though, as fans confronted chairman Angelo Massone, angrily demanding he sell his controlling interest in the club and allow them to survive.
Massone arrived at 12.30pm - half an hour past the midday deadline set by administrators for the Roman lawyer to respond - waving a wad of cash which he told the fans that he was going to deliver to "save the club".
"He told us it was GBP 17,000 that he was going to use to pay the players," said a sceptical 16-year-old Whitburn Academy pupil Kieran Tennant, who said he had cancelled a holiday in Spain to come and implore Massone to see sense.
"I just wanted to explain to him that it doesn't matter what he does, that the only way to save the club is to walk away."
With administrator-appointed interim manager Donald McGruther starting to lay off non-playing staff, only a Roy of the Rovers-style intervention can save Livingston now.
That plight marks the end of a 66-year roller-coaster ride that started at the Ferranti electronics factory in Crewe Toll, passed through several Edinburgh grounds before settling on a permanent home at Meadowbank Stadium, before taking a step into the unknown at Livingston.
A succession of unlikely white knights have stepped in to keep the club on course, ending with a stubborn Italian lawyer whose refusal to accept the administrator's token fee of GBP 25,000 for the debt-ridden club looks set to finally consign Livingston to history.
Formed as Ferranti Thistle in 1943 by a team of non-conscripted wartime electronics workers, within ten years the team were playing in the East of Scotland League.
The demise of Third Lanark in 1967 would eventually open the door to the Scottish Football League, who granted Thistle entry with league reconstruction in 1974 - on condition they remove Ferranti from their name to meet strict league anti-advertising rules.
Several names were considered and rejected,
but with admission to the league coinciding with a move to the city's new Meadowbank Stadium, the name Meadowbank Thistle was chosen.
In September 1974, a crowd of 4,000 turned out to watch Thistle play their first match as Scotland's newest league club at Meadowbank Stadium, but by the late 1970s the crowds had dwindled.
Just 80 people turned out for a league match against Stenhousemuir in 1979, and attendances remained poor, prompting the move to Livingston.
Meadowbank peaked in 1988 when they finished Division One runners-up, but by the mid-1990s the club was in crisis, with falling gates and a financial black hole.
The solution put forward by then chairman Bill Hunter was to move to Livingston, a plan that was met with stormy protests. Despite the opposition, the move went through in 1995.
Their first game at Almondvale saw a sell-out attendance of 4,000 but this soon settled to an average of about 1,800.
"I was the last manager at Meadowbank and I remember standing at Almondvale watching the steel framework of the new stands being erected - and what a vision that was," recalls the club's first and most celebrated manager, Jim Leishman.
"The first game was a sell-out and there were people standing outside that couldn't get in, and while the attendances did go down slightly we finished that year as Third Division champions which was quite an achievement."
However, behind the scenes things weren't so rosy and in 1997 the club revealed GBP 400,000 of unpaid rent arrears.
Stadium landlords West Lothian Council threatened to close the ground over the unpaid debt until the chairman, struggling with angina and unable to shoulder the debt any more, handed the club to the trio of Dominic Keane, Willie Haughey and John McGuinness.
The former were ex-Celtic FC directors keen to have a flutter in West Lothian, largely financed by lottery millionaire McGuinness who decided to invest part of his GBP 10 million fortune.
The sale was to herald a boom time for the club, as Livingston stormed into third place in the Scottish Premier League and sealed themselves a spot in Europe, while the board embarked on ambitious plans for a GBP 14m hotel development and leisure complex, a GBP 1.5m extension to the club's Nitespot nightclub and an expansion of its conference facilities.
While Leishman - now in his second stint as manager - wasn't kept abreast of the backroom dealings, the figures were certainly adding up on the park.
He added: "We sold David Fernandez for GBP 1.25m and I think we got somewhere in the region of GBP 1.1m for finishing third in the SPL. We went from nowhere to gaining a spot in Europe in the space of seven years, which is a singular feat that no club is ever going to match.
"I remember fans telling me how they were already saving their pennies ready to go and see them play FC Vaduz, which is amazing considering we had to build our fanbase up by going round the schools and getting the kids interested."
One of those schoolgirls was Claire McBey, now a 25-year-old printing company director, who still lives in Livingston.
Claire was 11 when she watched the first game at Almondvale, and yesterday stood outside the ground to watch the potential demise.
She said: "I got a free ticket for the game that day and I was hooked. I can't believe this might be it for the club.
"I know three people who work for the club and they were all told that it was going out of business at the same time as the fans, and now they're going to lose their jobs. Most of the staff are fans of the club as well so they're all devastated."
The events are the culmination of a torrid five-year spell which saw the club's bankers withhold the credit funding its stadium expansion plans in 2004, leading to a buyout by Irish entrepreneur Pearse Flynn.
Flynn again failed to steady the ship and sold his stake to Angelo Massone's Livi Dream company for GBP 1 in June 2008, but the club's finances remained precarious and last week the Court of Session appointed administrators Mazars after West Lothian Council took legal action to reclaim GBP 330,000.
"The club has a grand total of GBP 35 in the bank," said McGruther, who is expected to confirm the club's demise at a meeting with the SFL this afternoon. "I had to contribute some of my own money this week to pay for the team bus.
"Meanwhile, the total debt that the club owes is around GBP 1.8m. I have an interested party who is willing to step in if Mr Massone decides to relinquish his share, who is willing to pay an amount equating to 10p in the pound to clear the club's debts.
"However, this money is dependent on the club being allowed to remain in the First Division, as it is a large amount of money to invest in a club that will be cast down into the Third Division.
"If the only way that the club can survive is to start again from the bottom, then the interested parties will simply walk away and the club will cease to exist."
Shock cup win was finest day
FOR most fans, the club's finest hour was when, against all expectations, they beat Hibs 2-0 in the CIS Cup Final in March 2004.
Hibs had beaten Celtic and Rangers on their way to the final, but Livi had proved resolutely stubborn in their previous league meetings that season.
Livingston had already beaten Hibs twice that season without conceding a single goal.
Just five minutes into the second half on cup final day, Derek Lilley scored the first, followed by another by wing-back Jamie McAllister just two minutes later.
Instead of the cup being paraded down the antique splendour of Princes Street towards Easter Road, it made its way to Almondvale Stadium, framed by its new-town shopping centres and fast-food outlets.
THISTLE THAT BLOOMED THEN DIED IN THE DARK
1943 Ferranti Thistle formed by workers of the Crewe Toll Ferranti electronics plant.
1953 The club joins the East of Scotland League.
1969 Move to City Park, Ferry Rd.
1974 Joins the Scottish Football League, moves ground and becomes Meadowbank Thistle.
1986/87 Division 2 champions.
1987/88 Division 1 runners-up.
1995 Moves to Almondvale, becomes Livingston FC.
1995/96 Division 3 Champions
1998/99 Division 2 Champions
2000/01 Division 1 Champions
2001/02 SPL third place.
2004 League Cup Champions.
2004 Irish entrepreneur Pearse Flynn takes over.
June 2008 Club sold to Italian lawyer Angelo Massoni for GBP 1.
June 2009 Electricity cut off by Scottish Power due to an unpaid bill of GBP 32,000.
July 2009 Administrators called in over unpaid GBP 330,000 rent bill Liquidation proceedings begin.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)